


the hard-knock life of a walmart cashier

by geminiuchiha



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Roommates, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Walmart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2019-10-09 06:37:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17401880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geminiuchiha/pseuds/geminiuchiha
Summary: sasuke and naruto are university students who work at walmart, recently turned roommates. sasukes got a potty mouth and a crush on his best friend, the idiot from customer service. (disclaimer: this is not really about walmart at all)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this started as a small little one shot that i ended up expanding till it became this! so bear with me, the writings a bit rough at the beginning but i promise it gets better as it goes on

Retail is hell. Retail is fucking hell, and Sasuke is dying, and he definitely cannot take even one more second of this because he’s working an eight hour shift, and some kid knocked down an entire display case earlier and the mom had yelled at _him_ , and not her fucking kid, and now this white woman with dreadlocks that looks and smells like she hasn’t showered in at least two whole months is breathing into his face while he’s ringing up her half off groceries, and he’s really just about to snap--

 

“Thanks, ma’am, have a good day.”

 

As she walks away, stink and all, Sasuke has to resist the urge to groan and sink to the floor and just lie there. _‘On second thought, I’d probably just catch some kinda disease,’_ he thinks to himself and just sighs and straightens up as he waits for the next customer from hell, when he hears that annoying snicker from behind him.

 

“Jeez, Sasuke, I thought you were gonna puke or something.” A shock of blond hair and a way too bright smile with far too many teeth pops up in front of him. “No, c’mon, seriously, you were LITERALLY turning green, man, like you looked NAUSEOUS.”

 

“I’m getting even sicker ‘cause of you, Naruto, could you just shut the fuck up for like one second. God. Please.”

 

Naruto twists his face into an exaggerated gasp. “Sasuke, how many TIMES do I have to tell you to watch your language. This is a WORKPLACE.”

 

“It’s fucking Walmart.”

 

Naruto’s face just contorts into an even more exaggerated shocked expression, and Sasuke’s scowl deepens.

 

“Just go back to the customer service desk, Naruto, for fucks sake.”

 

“I JUST told you not to swear, jeez, Sasuke,” Naruto says as he leans against the conveyor belt. “There’s barely any customers right now, and I’m doin’ my duties checking in on the cashiers to see if there’s any items I need to take back to returns.”

 

Sasuke rolls his eyes. “Okay, well, there are none, idiot. Your service is not required here. My shifts over in an hour, can’t you just let me suffer until then in peace.”

 

“Oooooooh, is someone cranky they didn’t get moved up to customer service? Awwww, is Sasuke sad he’s still stuck at cashhhh??”

 

Sasuke wants to punch that shit eating grin off Naruto’s face _so bad_ , but that would probably get him fired. Does he really need this job, though. Does he _really_ , really need it.

 

“Whatever, literally only you would be actually happy about getting moved to customer service, Naruto. You think the rest of us want to have to actually deal with these crazy ass customers? You don’t even get paid more, we’re still both making minimum wage.”

 

Naruto bares another blinding grin at him. God, how Sasuke hated that beautiful smile.

 

“Fine, fine be bitter if you want, Sasuke. I know what’s in your heart!” Naruto retorts as he pushes off against the conveyor belt, and has the _audacity_ to wink as he turns around and saunters back to customer service. Sasuke just glares at Naruto’s retreating figure, and then turns his annoyance at himself, as his cheeks have the _audacity_ to turn red. _‘Just one more hour. Then I get to go-’._

 

Sasuke doesn’t even get the chance to finish the thought before a mother with three screaming children and a fistful of coupons pulls up with an overflowing cart to the register.

 

\---


	2. Chapter 2

The weather is grey and gloomy as Sasuke pulls up into the employee parking space in his beat up Honda Civic the next morning. As he parks, Naruto’s annoyingly cheery voice unwittingly rings through his mind, shouting _‘LET’S GET THIS BREAD!’_ as if the blond was in the seat next to him. "I can’t even escape that dumbass in my own head,” Sasuke groans to himself. What had he ever done that some higher power had decided he had to deal with someone like Naruto in _addition_ to working at fucking Walmart. He was just a miserable college student slaving his way through a criminology degree, working a shit job so he could pay rent. He didn’t deserve this. And to add insult to injury, his stupid brain just would not stop whispering about how attractive he found Naruto. That was not helping the situation _at all_.

 

As if summoned by his thoughts, Naruto’s horrendously orange mess of a car pulls up in the spot across from him, and the blond waves at him enthusiastically through the windshield. The unbidden thought of how cute he looks when he’s being goofy squirms its way into Sasuke’s mind before he squashes it with a signature scowl. Sighing, he moves to grab his vest from the backseat and heave himself out of the car to join Naruto, as the latter practically springs out of his car. He may put up an annoyed front but he did enjoy the idiot’s friendship. Naruto was the first (and, honestly, only) friend he’d made at work and at least Naruto’s seemingly boundless energy gave him something to distract himself from the dragging hours of each shift. Plus, it helped that they went to the same university; they had actually taken a class together in first year, apparently, which Sasuke hadn’t known until Naruto had excitedly told him during Sasuke’s first ever shift. Naruto was studying psychology and apparently wanted to be a counsellor, and although Sasuke thought the subject really suited him (he’d come to learn Naruto was more that the loud airhead he presented himself as), when Naruto had gone on a rant to Sasuke about how he believed Freud deserved the death penalty on his third day, he had been overwhelmed to say the least. But it had been almost half a year of monotonous shifts since then, and, begrudgingly, Sasuke found himself liking the ball of energy more and more each day. Not that he’d ever tell Naruto that.

 

“HEYYY, SASUKE! Rise and grind, baby, let’s ge-“

 

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Naruto, that meme died two months ago.”

 

“You’re no fun, asshole,” Naruto laughs as he walks over and slings his arm over Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke just rolls his eyes and locks up his car with a chirp.

 

“We’re gonna be late, let’s go.”

 

Naruto’s eyes widen comedically. “WOWW, Uchiha, the model employee, huh? Wow, I gotta tell the manager about this, he’s gonna be so happy when he hears-“

 

“If you don’t shut up I’m gonna go home and make you cover my shift.”

 

“Aw, c’mon, Sasuke, that doesn’t even make any sense. We’re literally both working right now, how would I even cover your shift. We legit have like the same shift. I thought I was the stupid one, c’mon Sasuk-“

 

“Don’t get logical with me, dumbass. Also, get off,” Sasuke grumbles as he twists around in a feeble attempt to shrug Naruto off, which just makes the blond cling harder to him as he laughs in his ear. They push and pull each other like that until they reach the store and, too soon for Sasuke’s liking, the pair split up, and Sasuke’s back to hell in the form of a register.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapters pretty short!! i didn't think people would actually read my writing.... ill try and write up a way longer chapter next time and just release it all in one go!


	3. Chapter 3

The trill of Sasuke's ring tone pulls him out of his sleep. He scrapes a hand over his eyes before reaching blindly for his phone. 

 

“Hullo?”

 

“Hey, Sasuke! Wassup?” Naruto’s staticky voice practically yells through the phone.

 

“Naruto, what the hell it’s like 6 am,” Sasuke yawns.

 

“Did you just wake up, asshole? It’s 9 am. Don’t you have class in like an hour.”

 

“Hour and a half, I still had twenty minutes of sleep left. And now I’m never gonna get that back, so thanks for that,” Sasuke grumbles as Naruto laughs into his ear, bright and cheery as usual. “Anyways, what is it, why’d you call so early?”

 

“What, a guy can’t call up his best friend whenever he wants?”

 

“No, you can’t,” Sasuke deadpans, even as he feels his ears heat up at the mention of _best_ _friend_.

 

Naruto laughs again. “Ok, well, honestly, I did have something I wanted to talk to you about. Wanna go out for lunch today? I feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever.”

 

“We saw each other at work on Sunday, it’s been like two days, Naruto.”

 

“That was WORK, we haven’t hung out in WEEKS. C’mon I know you end at one today, I’ll meet you after class, I end at noon.”

 

“You’d hang around for an hour for me? I’m touched. Where we going, idiot? It better not be that ramen place again,” Sasuke smiles into the phone as Naruto whoops obnoxiously in the background.

 

“You already know! And you already said yes so you can’t take it back! I’ll meet you in front of the humanities building! Bye!” Naruto yells into the receiver, and hangs up before Sasuke even gets a chance to get a word in.

 

Sasuke just sighs. ‘ _ I technically didn’t even say yes, dumbass,’ _ he thinks to himself, although he knows better than anyone that it’d be the end of the world before he turned down a chance to hang out with Naruto without good reason. It was rare enough that Naruto even managed to find time to hang out with him, considering how packed his schedule was. Despite how stupid he seemed, the guy was actually smart as hell, and always busy with some sort of research project or exam or something for his honour’s program. To be honest, Naruto having his shit so together hurt his pride a bit, considering how much trouble Sasuke was having trying to find a professor to do some research under. There were plenty that would take his free labour, but Sasuke couldn’t afford to work for free considering how tight things had been as of late-- the few Walmart shifts weren’t covering things in the slightest, and he hated getting help, but the allowance from his brother was really the only thing keeping him afloat right now. Aside from all of that, Sasuke honestly did miss him. So much. He may have been the one joking about it being only two days since they’d seen each other, but in truth Sasuke missed him more than he could put into words. Naruto had the kind of energy that infected Sasuke’s usual cold demeanour, and brought the best out in him. He didn’t have many friends aside from Naruto, and he didn’t see the point in having any more either; he was perfectly content with Naruto taking up most of his socialization time. But seeing each other during work breaks really didn’t cut it anymore, and between all their college work and other chores, Sasuke felt the void even more. Missing Naruto this much made him feel a bit pathetic and a lot out of control, but after months of trying to squash down the gnawing feeling in his chest, he’d decided to settle for just ignoring his feelings, and taking the friendship for what it was. In any case, Naruto shined too bright for someone like him, Sasuke wasn’t out, Naruto was probably straight (considering how much he hung out with that pink haired girl), and the list just goes on and on. Easier to just let the crush run its course, he figured; it's not like he developed crushes on people often, anyways, so it probably wouldn’t take long for him to get over it. Which is what he’d been telling himself for the last two months. But, sooner or later, he figured.  _ ‘It’ll run its course.’ _

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lied about a longer chapter, im prob just gonna stick with short chapters but quicker updates >:) hope u guys like it


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke watches Naruto as he skips ahead, kicking after a stone he’d found along the sidewalk. Laughing to himself, Naruto turns around and gives Sasuke a smile that leaves the latter breathless.

 

“Come oooooon, Sasuke, what’chu so slow for, huh? I’m starving, I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

 

Sasuke rolls his eyes, but picks up his pace nevertheless. “Neither have I, y’know. Stop complaining, idiot.”

 

“I’ll complain all I want, thank you very much, asshole. You woke up like two hours ago, I woke up at SIX. That’s not even a real time. It’s still dark when I wake up. I’m allowed to complain.”

 

“I don’t get why you don't just move closer to campus, man. Like I get that living with Iruka is great and all, like he’s your dad, duh, and no rent and stuff, but I mean, really, Naruto. Is a two hour commute really worth it. And on top of that what idiot signs up for morning classes.”

 

“Okay I KNOW you know I had no choice with the morning classes cause I had to take them cause of my research and I specifically remember complaining to you about it for two weeks straight before classes started,” Naruto points out emphatically, as Sasuke concedes with a nod and an ill concealed smile. “But honestly, you’re right about the whole living situation, I was actually talking to Iruka about it over the weekend. If I moved closer into the city I’d be way closer to uni, and to the research clinic, and even walmart’s closer, yknow? But it’s also like. Where the fuck am I gonna find an affordable place to rent, especially this late in the year?” Naruto sighs. “It’s not like I’d even mind rooming with someone, but Sakura and Sai were all like ‘Naruto blah blah blah you’re so messy blah blah loud blah blah never shut up blah blah’ which was like true. But mean. But true, like I don’t wanna traumatize some poor freshman I room with and then get blacklisted from the rental community for the rest of my life. Also, they brought up my frogs which I think is actually a bonus in my favour so I ignored that. If my roommate doesn’t like frogs then I wouldn’t be able to live with them anyways. I’d be the one getting them blacklisted from ever renting again.”

 

Sasuke’s bemused expression melts into a laugh as Naruto continues to rant about the dangers of being blacklisted from the so-called renting community. “I don’t think that’s even a thing, man.” he says, as Naruto’s eyes widen and he raises his voice in disagreement. Sasuke just laughs, but the thoughts at the corner of his mind tug at his attention, as his mind's eye calls up an image of the small spare bedroom in his apartment. And that’s all Sasuke’s vivid imagination needs to go hog wild, conjuring up images of Naruto lounging on the couch, Naruto eating his disgustingly unhealthy cup ramen at the kitchen table, Naruto in the mornings just after waking up…

 

Sasuke pulls himself back into the present with a jolt, choosing instead to focus on present time real life Naruto, who’s moved on to talking about some new frog species that had been discovered recently. _‘There’s no way I could ask Naruto to live with me. He’d hate it. I’d hate it. How many times have people stopped being friends after living together, like no way. And what if he brought someone home at night? Well, like, because that would be gross. The walls are thin. Don’t wanna hear someone having sex in the room across from me. Not cause it’s specifically Naruto. Naruto can sleep with whoever he wants. It’s fine. As long as I don’t have to know about it. Also what was he saying about Sai earlier. Isn’t Sai that guy who’s always wearing crop tops and hitting on Naruto. Why’d Naruto even bring him up. Maybe I should start wearing a crop top. I wonder if Naruto’s into that. Not that it matters. I mean. If he’s into that, I definitely wouldn’t wear it. Wait, what was I even thinking about-‘_.

 

“Hey, Sasuke, you good? Why’re you all quiet all of a sudden, also you looking kinda red, you’re not sick are you?” Naruto’s voice breaks Sasuke out of his reverie, as his line of sight is filled with with piercing blue eyes, way too close for comfort. Sasuke jerks back and mumbles a half hearted “yeah, I’m good, just zoned out for a sec, what were you saying” as he tries to get his heartbeat to calm down. He’s saved from having to explain further, as the pair round the corner and find themselves in front of Ichiraku’s, or as Naruto had dubbed it, “heaven”.

 

Naruto lets out an exclamation of excitement, and all but drags Sasuke in behind him, as they settle down into their usual corner booth. Soon enough, Naruto’s busy ordering for the two, and then continuing on his newest tangent on why dipping noodles are an atrocity to human kind. As the blond wildly gesticulates, Sasuke just props his chin up in his hand with a smile, content to listen to his best friends ramblings.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorryyyy for the late update!! hopefully ill have the next chapter out soon, its just a continuation of the scene in this chapter heh


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto’s already well into tucking away his second bowl of ramen when he suddenly looks up. His eyes widen almost comically as he stares at Sasuke, as the latter leans back a little, taken aback by the sudden undivided attention.

 

“Fuck S’ske! I ’most f’rgot t’ tell ya!” Naruto sounds out around a mouthful of ramen.

 

“Swallow your food first, God, Naruto, that’s so gross.”

 

Naruto gulps down his mouthful and bares an unapologetic grin at Sasuke. Sasuke’s eyes are drawn to the corner of his mouth where there’s a small piece of nori stuck, but then flick back up as soon as he notices where he’s looking. He folds his hands into his lap, lest he accidentally do something stupid like wipe the food off Naruto’s face for him.

 

“Okay, what were you trying to say. Also, you have food on your face.”

 

Naruto blushes a bit and swipes at his mouth with the back of his hand. _‘Cute. He looks cute when he’s embarrassed.’_

 

But then, the blush is gone as soon as it came. “Sasuke. I’m gonna make you the happiest man on earth,” Naruto declares, a smug look plastered over his face.

 

Sasuke, who had unfortunately chosen that precise moment to take a sip of water, splutters rather magnificently. “Wh-What?” Sasuke chokes out, while trying to play it off like nothing happened. _‘Smooth’_.

 

“You good?” Naruto laughs. “That excited to hear the news, huh?” His smug grin only gets impossibly wider with each word. Sasuke wonders how he even talks while baring his teeth like that.

 

Naruto flourishes his hands wildly, and puts on his shitty announcer voice. “Oooooookayyyyyy ladies and gents! The moment we’ve all been waiting for! The BIG REVEAL! Drumroll please!” Naruto drums on the table (embarrassingly out of tempo for something as simple as a drumroll), the other restaurant goers give the pair half annoyed side glances, and Sasuke just stares at the ball of energy in front of him with the most unimpressed look he has the strength to muster.

 

“Okay,” Naruto starts after he’s finally content with the amount of ruckus he’s made, “so you know how you’ve been bummed about not finding a, like, paid criminology research position? Since you’re still undergrad or whatever?”

 

Sasuke’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “Yeah...”

 

“Ok so- Wait, actually, lemme back up for a sec. Okay, remember that social psych prof I fuckin’ hate who’s class I’m taking this sem? Like the one that’s a dumbass and doesn’t know literally like any science or psych but keeps talking about physiology and stuff?” Sasuke nods, and Naruto launches back into his digression.

“Okay, so, like, yeah I hate his class, y’know? And his notes don’t make sense, so I went to his office hours to ask him something, right? And like- Ok, wait so you know how the sociology wing has all the offices really close and, like, facing each other? So I’m leaving this guy's, like the dumbass prof’s, office, and just as I’m walking out the door I almost straight up crash into this other guy! Like he was leaving the opposite office, and cause the doors are so close to each other, y’know?” Naruto eagerly looks at Sasuke to see if he’s following along, and although the latter has no idea where this is going, he nods anyways.

“Right! So, I was like, in my head, ‘Fuck, can’t this kid watch where they’re going?’, but then I look up and it’s this old guy! Well, actually, I don’t think he’s that old, I only saw like half his face but he looked kinda tired but maybe in his like late thirties or whatever, but his hair was like white, so he probably dyed it, I guess. Oh yeah, and like he was wearing a face mask, so my second thought was like 'oh fuck, what if he’s sick, now I’m gonna get sick', right? But when he talked he didn’t sound sick, so maybe he’s just one of those pretentious guys who just wears face masks. Anyways, okay, so I was all like ‘Sorry!’ and stuff, cause I almost bumped into him, y’know? And this guy, get this, he just looks at me and goes “Aren’t you Iruka’s kid?” Isn’t that crazy! I was like holy shit yeah, you know my dad?? Except I didn’t say holy shit, obviously, I don’t swear at strangers like you, Sasuke. And he’s just like yeah, kinda, we were college buddies in undergrad blah blah lost contact but still connected on Facebook-- FACEBOOK, Sasuke, can you believe old people HAH-- and, like, he remembered what I looked like from Iruka’s posts and cause I look like one of his old teachers from high school or something? Anyways, then he introduces himself, and he’s like, ‘I’m Kakashi Hatake, I’m a-”

 

Sasuke jolts up straight in his seat at the mention of the name. “ _Naruto, did you just say Kakashi Hatake??!?_ ” Sasuke whisper screams, his eyes in danger of popping out of his head.

 

Naruto’s grin only widens further. “Wait you already know who he is? That’s great, this is even better!”

 

“Know him? Oh my god, Naruto, there’s no one in the university’s Criminology department that _doesn’t_ know Dr. Hatake, holy shit. He’s, like, the best in the entire sociology field here. He was even the department head for a while, but he stepped down after our first year cause he’s taking a break from teaching to focus on the research project he’s working on right now. You have no idea, I was literally heartbroken when I found out he wouldn’t be teaching any courses anymore. I heard him give a keynote address once and that man is so smart, he knows the field so well, like, I’d give anything to take a class under him.”

 

Naruto’s smile softens and smooths over his face as Sasuke goes on and on. “Jeez, man, you’re starstruck. The guy didn’t seem like all that much to me, but yeah, he told me about how he’s only working on his research right now.”

 

“I can’t believe you actually know him, Naruto. Like, I’ve read so many of this guy’s research papers. You’ve got to get Iruka to invite him over for dinner or something and then coincidentally invite me over, too. I wanna meet him so bad.”

 

Naruto’s laugh rings out before Sasuke finishes his sentence. “Wait, wait, I’m not done yet! Let me finish!” Naruto grins again, looking incredibly pleased with himself. “Okay, so, he asks me if I’m in Soc or Crim cause I’m in the wing, y’know? And I’m like nah, just taking a required sociology course, I’m in psych, whatever. And he’s like-- get this-- he’s like ‘Oh, that’s too bad. I needed an undergrad grunt.’ And I’m like, wait. Hold up, hold up, hold up! And, being the smooth, loyal, devilishly handsome best friend I am, I go ‘Well my best friend is in Honours Criminology! He’s like the smartest guy ever, complete opposite of me in terms of personality, but he’s great, and he’s super passionate about the field, it’s one of the few things I’ve seen him actually invested in, y’know?’ And all this other stuff, I was, like, totally gassing you up, and then I dropped the most important line, I was like ‘He really wants to get involved in a research project, but he was having trouble finding a paid position since he’s only in his third year, and he can’t afford to take on unpaid intern positions right now!’” Naruto beams at Sasuke, who is frozen in his seat, eyes as wide as saucers, not quite believing what was coming out of Naruto’s mouth right now. Naruto just laughs knowingly, and continues. “So this Kakashi guy is just like scratching his head all contemplative-like, and goes ‘Well, he does sound like a promising student. I don’t have much field work for undergrads right now, but one of my master’s students just graduated this month, so I need some help on the data entry and processing front. I was thinking about putting out a notice for the position through the department site, but, I mean seems like a lot of work on my part if you could just get me into contact with an undergrad, directly, don’t you think? I’d only be able to pay him minimum wage, though, budgetary constraints and all… You think he’d be okay with that?’ And I was like of course, yeah!! Like, definitely Dr. Kakashi, you seem super smart so Sasuke would prob love to work under you, minimum wage is fine, blah blah, and he was like ‘Ok, tell him to come see me next Monday at three, room 4-011, if he’s interested. And tell him to bring his resume and transcript.’ Oh, and then he winked at me and was like don’t tell him I already plan on giving him the position, though, but obviously I’m not listening to that otherwise you’re gonna freak yourself out, but yeah! I basically kinda accidentally ended up getting you a job! And I didn’t even know it was with your, like, God of Criminology, or whatever!” Naruto leans back in his seat, arms crossed behind his head, relishing in the shocked expression on Sasuke’s face. Sasuke, for his part, feels like he’s astral projecting.

 

“Naruto, I think I love you,” Sasuke breathes out, still reeling from the fact that Naruto had gotten him an interview with his academic idol. He slumps back into his seat, too out of it to notice the blond turning a vivid shade of red at the remark.

 

Naruto lets out a laugh that would almost sound forced if Sasuke hadn’t been too dazed to pay closer attention. “Seriously, Sasuke, my pleasure, don’t even sweat it, dropping your name you was like the only thing to do in the situation. I’m just lucky I almost ran over the guy, honestly. Plus, I bet you’re gonna be cursing me out when he makes you do boring shit, like sorting out stats or whatever.”

 

“No way, Naruto,” Sasuke leans forward, solemn expression on his face. “This is like. Imagine if I’d just gotten you a job with Hatsune Miku. This is how great this is. I’m literally indebted to you forever, I swear to god, there’s no way I’m ever going to complain about this.”

 

Naruto bursts into laughter at ‘Hatsune Miku’, and this time Sasuke’s paying attention, hopelessly enraptured by the way Naruto’s pretty blue eyes disappear into the smile lines of his face, how there’s just a slight dimple in his right cheek, and the glow of his tanned skin in the inconsistent restaurant lighting.

 

“Come live with me.”

 

Naruto laughter dies out, and he tilts his head in question. “Wait, what?”

 

‘ _Fuck. Wait, fuck, what the fuck, did I just say that outloud?!!’_ Sasuke’s eyes widen, then dart around until they settle on Naruto’s now-cold bowl of ramen in front of them. “Well, I. I was just thinking, you know how you said you want to move closer to campus? And I mean my apartment’s right on the edge of campus, you can just walk everywhere, and I have to renew the lease at the end of this month, anyways, so it wouldn’t even be a problem to add you to the rent, and it’d be pretty cheap between the two of us, since Itachi found me a rent controlled place, I guess, but, yeah, like only if you want...” Sasuke’s rambling. He takes a deep breath, and looks up at Naruto, who has a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “Just… Can’t let you out do me, can I? You just got me a job interview, least I can do is offer you a housing option.” Naruto just keeps smiling that tiny, soft smile at Sasuke. Sasuke swallows, nervousness heightened from the unusual silence on the other end. “I mean, it's only if you want. Totally get it if you don’t want to live with me. Also, the other room is smaller than mine, like if you’re not cool with that. And there’s only street parking available. And, uh--”

 

“Sounds perfect.”

 

Sasuke blinks in surprise. Naruto’s grinning again, but this time it’s a bit different; Sasuke can’t place the look in his eyes. “Huh?” he says, immediately inwardly cursing himself out for sounding so stupid.

 

“I said, sounds perfect, Sasuke,” Naruto chuckles, “You have no idea what you’re signing up for, but it’s too late to take back the offer now. Coworkers, to best friends, to roommates? It sounds like a shitty sitcom. This is like. The best thing ever,” Naruto laughs again, although this time it’s more to himself, and closer, almost, to a giggle.

 

A grin starts to make its way across Sasuke’s face, unbidden. “You serious? You really wanna room with me?”

 

“Yeah! It’ll be so much fun, and way more convenient for me, y’know? Like, commute wise and everything. And you said rents pretty cheap right? I’ve been to your place, I like it, feels homey. We could like split up chores and stuff, I’m good with that stuff, so I doubt we’d fight or anything. Hah, we could even carpool to walmart together if our shifts match up! I don’t see any cons, honestly. I just gotta talk to Iruka and stuff, but, yeah,” Naruto scratches the back of his head, the tips of his ears turning uncharacteristically red. “I’d get to see you way more if we lived together, obviously. It would be really, really nice, I think.”

 

Sasuke feels like he’s on cloud nine.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fanfic readers hate her! she only posts 700 word chapters and she says she'll update soon but doesnt get around to writing for a week
> 
> kjdhsfgkj super long chapter this time to make up for the lack of update the last week... im gonna be more realistic, and only promise a chapter every week from now on, im pretty busy wiith classes.
> 
> anyways, hope you guys liked this chapter!!! i worked real hard on it, lmk what you think!!


	6. Chapter 6

Sasuke feels like he’s going to throw up.

 

He covers his face with his hands and falls backwards onto his bed with just the slightest hint of melodrama, and groans loudly. All that was running through his mind was fleeting images of Naruto’s bright smile and his both his boisterous and his endearingly shy reactions throughout lunch, but with the running commentary of self beratement that was mostly along the lines of _‘DUMBASS, DID YOU REALLY JUST ASK NARUTO UZUMAKI TO COME LIVE WITH YOU??!’_

 

Sasuke’s mind was, to put it lightly, in a state of extreme juxtaposition.

 

The reality of everything that had transpired over lunch was starting to set in now that he was back in his apartment by himself, without the mind muddling effects that Naruto seemed to have on his functioning capacity. He was extremely grateful to Naruto for helping him get the interview, but now the anxiety of meeting (forget working under) someone of such high academic standing in his field was really getting to him, despite what Naruto had said about the job being “guaranteed” (he didn’t believe that; it was most likely a ploy to catch him off his guard). And even more than that, he had really, actually asked Naruto to come live with him. And Naruto had agreed.

 

Sasuke groans again, even louder this time, and drags the covers over his face, and lies there, catatonic, as his legs dangling off the side of the bed grow colder.

 

An infinite amount of possibilities were running through Sasuke’s head at a mile a minute. _'What if Iruka disapproved of Naruto moving out all of a sudden? What if someone else offers Naruto a better place? What if Naruto moves in but then ends up getting sick of me? What if Naruto starts dating someone and brings them over? What if Naruto sees me in the morning before I clean up and he ends up thinking I’m ugly and gross? What if I get sick and cough on him or something and Naruto dies?'_

Each hypothetical veering further from reality than the last, Sasuke gradually starts imagining potential Naruto And I Live Together situations, and he’s all the way back at square one. Sasuke’s shoulders relax fraction by fraction, as his daydreams get sweeter, of course with Naruto as the leading star. Daydreaming about Naruto coming home from class exhausted but still with his usual smile, Naruto dragging them out for ramen on the weekends, Naruto lounging around in his pyjamas, Naruto attempting to cook breakfast and Sasuke having to take over, Naruto and him--

 

Sasuke tenses up again. This is dangerous territory. He doesn’t know how to navigate his feelings. He’s never been in an actual relationship, and there was no way in hell he was gonna act on the feelings for Naruto he was trying so hard to deny. Despite all his reasonings, rationale, and defenses, it all boiled down to one thing: Sasuke was too scared. He was too scared to lose Naruto in any capacity, and he figured being friends with him was better than nothing, and all he could hold onto. Sasuke knew himself, and he knew better than anyone else that he was one misstep away from cutting Naruto off altogether. He’d rather deal with the pain of Naruto’s absence than the pain of his rejection, and to avoid both, he was content with remaining friends for as long as Naruto stuck around him. Which is why the roommate situation had thrown him into a state of paralyzing anxiety. Being around Naruto was cathartic, but long term exposure was sure to bring the side effects of Sasuke fucking it up. The worry that this could end up with Sasuke either accidentally offending his best friend beyond the point of reconciliation or, even worse, confessing his feelings by accident and getting embarrassingly rejected, was burning through him and threatening to consume his very being. Even more terrifying still, there was nothing he could do to stop it now. There was no way he would rescind the offer after seeing Naruto’s face after he’d proposed living together. He had been so ecstatic, uncharacteristically quiet, but an extra bounce in his step the entire way back from lunch. Sasuke knew, of course, it was just because of how social Naruto was as a person; he would _naturally_ be elated to be rooming with a friend. To Naruto, everything was an adventure, even something as seemingly mundane as moving into a friends house. Sasuke loved that about him, but it scared him. Sasuke didn’t fear change or the unknown, but he was always apprehensive. Always worried about what was coming.

And now the unknown blossom of happiness that had unfurled and rooted itself in Sasuke’s chest was what alarmed him the most. No matter how much he fought it, the pure elation that had set in refused to be uprooted and crept it's vines through the other anxieties of Sasuke’s mind, taking a firmer still grasp of his heart. Like how the larger plant drains the weaker seedlings around it, the happiness in Sasuke’s heart drew its energy out of his apprehension and bloomed. The quiet dread was still there, but all of a sudden Sasuke felt as though his head had cleared all at once.

 

He had asked Naruto to come live with him. And Naruto had agreed.

  


\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short sasuke ~feelings~ chapter to tide over until the next plot heavy chapter! hope u guys like it as usual :3


	7. Chapter 7

_[a brief interlude from our story so far]_

 

A peaceful Saturday morning.

 

That’s all Sasuke wanted.

 

Instead, he was crammed into the small break room at the back of the Walmart, 20 minutes to opening, shoved up against Naruto because the new (lazy ass) kid with spiky hair was sitting on the other side of him and he reeked of smoke. The branch manager was at the head of the break room, giving some unnervingly reverent speech about the greatness of the Walmart corporate conglomerate and how the employees had to work harder and show the customers the “fire that burned within them” or some bullshit. Basically, Sasuke gathered that he was supposed to try and sell more Walmart cards or whatever they were. And probably smile more. He was convinced that last one was specifically aimed at him although Mr. Lung Disease beside him with the snarky “what a drag” attitude looked like he was going to end up just as bad as him.

 

A solid ten more minutes of employee exploitation disguised as team building and spirit lifting ranting later, the manager is clapping his hands and calling for everyone to get to their stations before the store opens. As chairs scrape across the floor, and everyone starts making their way out to the store front, Sasuke nudges Naruto.

 

“Huh? What?”

 

“What’s that guys name again? The wrinkled old bastard?” Sasuke whispers to Naruto under his breath.

 

“You mean the manager? Jesus, Sasuke,” Naruto laughs, “it’s Hiruzen.”

 

“Oh yeah. Doesn’t he seem kinda shady to you?”

 

Naruto just stares at Sasuke, trying his best for a blank look, but his eyes twinkling with amusement betray him. “Not really, he just seems like a nice old guy. Seems to care about the youth, and the future, and whatnot.”

 

“I dunno, man. He gives me sociopath vibes sometimes. Like he seems like the type to give a five year old orphan some rent money and leave them to rot in an apartment, yknow? Like he would hand the kid some allowance and tell them not to spend it all and just leave the kid to fend for themselves.”

 

“That’s. Oddly specific.”

 

“I dunno why, ok. He just gives me that vibe. Like he’d order a hit on a kid’s family and then just let the kid hang around in their dead family’s house without getting them any therapy or something.”

 

“......You okay, Sasuke?” Naruto’s face is contorted between looking worried and actively trying to hold back his laughter now. “Why the fuck is Hiruzen some kinda crazy child abuser in your mind, man?”

 

“I dunno, Naruto. He just gives me that vibe.” Sasuke is almost completely serious, but seeing Naruto’s reaction is enough to drive him to the edge of bursting out into laughter as well. His muscles were starting to ache with the effort of maintaining his poker face.

 

“You know when you get feelings about people it’s cause you knew them in a past life?” Naruto quips.

 

Sasuke exaggerates an expression of contemplation. “Ya think?”

 

“Man he must’ve done some fucked up stuff in your past life, huh, Sasuke? Bet everyone hated him.”

 

“Probably went to jail or died or something. Serves him right.”

 

Naruto can’t hold back his laughter anymore, face splitting into a grin brighter than the sun. “You’re mad he talked to us about customer satisfaction for 30 minutes at seven am, aren’t you?”

 

“Absolutely furious.”

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick little extra type chapter!!! im in the middle of midterms so i may not update for a bit sorryyyy
> 
> i think hiruzens a lil bitch if you couldnt tell :P
> 
> this chapter dedicated to abdi cause fuck the third hokage


	8. Chapter 8

It had been two weeks since Sasuke had asked Naruto to come live with him and Sasuke felt like he was living in some kind of liminal space, just biding his time. So many things had happened since then but at the same time everything seemed to be suspended in space. Like he was trapped in molasses, as he watched everything unfold around him.

 

-

 

The first major event that had happened was his meeting with Kakashi. Fueled by coffee and anxiety, Sasuke found himself hovering outside office 4-011 the Monday after his lunch with Naruto, at exactly 2:54pm. Sasuke nervously rocked back on his heels, debating with himself whether it was too early to knock on the door or not, waiting all of half a minute until his watch face changed to read 2:55, before knocking on the door. He hears some shuffling from inside the room, and then the door opens and messy white hair and a masked face fills his view.

 

“You must be, Sasuke. Come in, come in.” Kakashi says in a voice that could only be described as pleasant. As Sasuke takes a seat in the chair opposite facing the desk, Kakashi seats himself behind the desk, leaning further back in his chair than was probably polite.

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Hatake. I’m really glad to have the opportunity to-”

 

The professor cuts him off with a wave of a hand. “Kakashi is just fine. And before we get carried away with any pleasantries, I’d like to get right down to business, wouldn’t you?”

 

Sasuke braces himself for the onslaught of academic interrogation he’s sure to to come, and sets his jaw and nods. Kakashi smiles, expression only readable through the upturn of his eyes.

 

“I just have one question for you. What do you think is wrong with our criminal justice system?”

 

Sasuke balks at the question. He had come into the interview ready for some difficult questions and inquiries into his background and GPA, but an open ended question like this? Of this magnitude? This wasn’t the sort of question that was just black and white, wrong or right answer. Sasuke was the type of student who could name more sociology theorists than he could personal friends, but that wasn’t going to help him here.

 

But Sasuke wasn’t the type of person to back down from a challenge, either. So he starts. He starts talking about the complexities of the justice institution, how laws are implemented and how societal biases are built into our system. He talks about the perpetuation of prejudice between regular citizens and law enforcement, and he talks about other societal factors. At one point he accidentally veers too far off course as he’s talking about how the economic burdens imposed by capitalism affect people’s lives and how that in turn affects what people perceive as crime, and the racial and gendered components. He talks about intersectionality, and then he talks about infrastructure and overcrowding, and then he jumps to legislation. He’s all over the place and at the back of his mind he’s panicking about how utterly incohesive he sounds, but the words flow naturally. It’s almost as if he’s back in his apartment hanging out with Naruto and getting worked up about the news, going off on a tangent while Naruto listens and adds his two cents every now and then. The only difference here was that Sasuke was, thankfully, implementing his “less swearing more academic jargon” filter, and, less thankfully, Kakashi was dead silent and expressionless as Sasuke continued to let the words spill out of his mouth.

 

It’s close to ten minutes later when Sasuke finally runs out of steam, and ends off his extensive answer with a slightly awkward “So…. yeah.” Kakashi, who hadn’t moved a muscle the entire time Sasuke had been talking, finally leans forwards.

 

“You pass.” Kakashi says with a smile.

 

“..... Huh?” Sasuke’s ever intelligent brain to mouth pathway really never fails to embarrass him.

 

“I said, you pass!” Kakashi smiles, as he leans back again. “I wanted to know how well you understood what you’re studying, and, more importantly, I want to know if you’re really passionate about this. And you are, I can tell from what you said and how you said it. So, you pass.”

 

Sasuke’s brain is going at a mile a minute. He musters all his fake confidence, and somehow manages to get out a “Thank you for thinking that, I really am passionate about the field, I’m happy I could convey the sentiment,” and some other pompous sounding phrases which were the direct english translation of the slightly confused but elated cheering in his head.

 

Kakashi chuckles, “You’ll have to be pretty passionate to stick through with this work. Like I told your friend, it’s a lot of grunt work. Lots of boring readings and number crunching and data review. But if you’re passionate about the subject, I think you’ll find a way to enjoy it.” Sasuke nods emphatically at this, not letting himself speak in fear of sounding like a 10 year old whose father had just told him he was getting a pony for his birthday. Kakashi continues, “I’m actually leaving for a conference and to do some field work tomorrow, so I’m in a bit of a rush today, and I won’t be around for a couple weeks. I’ve left the necessary paperwork with the department accountant, here, I’ll just give you his email, so just get that all sorted out with him. In the meantime, I have some papers I want you to read as well, I’ll send you them over email. By the time all of that’s sorted out and you’ve got some background into the research I’m doing here, I should be back, and we can dive into work. I’ll give you a heads up when I want you in next, but ballpark estimate would be a couple weeks from now.” Sasuke nods again in confirmation, and takes that as his cue to leave, and the pair stand up. Kakashi grips his hand in a firm handshake. “Thanks for coming today, Sasuke. I look forward to working with you.”

 

“Thank you for meeting with me, Dr. H-... Kakashi. I’m really, _really_ looking forward to working with you, it’s an honour.”

 

Kakashi’s eyes crinkle into a smile again. “Sure thing. I’ll see you soon, then. Tell Naruto I said hi!” he calls out as he sends Sasuke off with a cheery wave.

 

As Sasuke shuts the office door behind him and turns to leave, he fumbles for his phone and dials the first number in his favourites.

 

“Sasuke? What’s up?” Naruto’s voice sounds through the phone, and into Sasuke’s ear as the latter makes his way out of the corridors of offices.

 

“I got it, Naruto,” Sasuke breathes out. “I got the job. With Kakashi.”

 

Naruto lets out a whoop, his laughter resounding through Sasuke’s skull as a smile stretches itself across his face.

 

“Of COURSE you got it! I knew you would! How was it, did he ask you a bunch of hard questions or anything?”

 

As Sasuke relates the interview to an ever enthusiastic Naruto, phone pressed against his cheek as he walked home, unable to suppress the growing smile on his face, he couldn’t help but feel grateful. At the end of it all, Sasuke was so grateful that he had Naruto in his life.

 

-

 

Sasuke rebuked the higher power that had decided to curse him with Naruto’s existence.

 

The second major event that happened wasn’t actually an event at all. It was just that Naruto had fallen asleep on Sasuke’s shoulder and now he was too terrified to move. They had been studying for what had seemed like hours but was actually closer to an hour and a half at best, but it was nearing 9 o’clock, and Sasuke should’ve taken Naruto’s increasingly wider yawns as a warning. The blond had come to show him something on his phone ten minutes earlier and ended up passing out in his seat as he leaned against Sasuke. Sasuke, for his part, felt like he’d mixed a five hour energy shot into a whole pot of black coffee and chugged the thing. His shoulder where Naruto’s cheek was pressed into him tingled and felt like it was shooting electric sparks throughout his nervous system. He felt too nervous to breathe, scared that any movement would either cause Naruto to slip from his perch or to wake up. Even as he chided himself for acting like a high schooler, Sasuke couldn’t bring himself to shake Naruto awake or at least shift him so he could sit up in a more comfortable position.

 

So Sasuke just sat there, half leaning over, spine aching and heart racing for almost twenty minutes until Naruto drowsily blinked awake. And despite his stiff back, he shrugged off Naruto’s profuse apologies for falling asleep and drooling on him, avoiding eye contact, just as tried to ignore his burning red ears that betrayed him time and time again.

 

-

 

The third major event was currently underway, two weeks post-inviting Naruto to come live with him. Reflecting on it, he had thought a lot happened in those two weeks, but not really. Just Naruto. That was already a lot for him, he supposed. And now, he was being overwhelmed by Naruto all over again.

 

It was moving day.

 

And Sasuke was stressed out to say the least.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLOOOOO long time no update huh sorry ive been majorly busy with school. hope you all like this new chapter! i hope to have the next one up real soon ^^ to compensate for the lack of content the past couple weeks lolol


	9. Chapter 9

Sasuke’s living room is an utter, complete mess. Sasuke wasn’t the tidiest person alive, but never in the time he had lived in the small apartment he called home, had he been confronted with the complete chaos in front of him. There are only a few boxes scattered around, but the contents of the boxes were currently strewn across every inch of bare space on the ground. And in the middle of the mess, like a goblin sitting atop his pile of hoarded rubbish, Naruto sat cross legged flipping through some long lost book on rainforest ecology, or something of the sort. Suddenly something catches his eye again, and Naruto practically dives face first into the ground trying to reach for an object half buried in a distant pile of clutter. Triumphant grin on his face, Naruto pulls himself up, brandishing a stuffed animal towards Sasuke, who is sitting on the ground as well, having long given up trying to help Naruto sort through his mess.

 

“Look, Sasuke! It’s my toad!! I’ve had him since I was little, his name is Gamatatsu!” Naruto beams. “Wait, I have the other one here too, give me a sec,” he mumbles, as he diligently starts pushing through the pile of oddities again. Barely thirty seconds pass before he emerges with yet another toad, this time a reddish orange as opposed to the others faded yellow fabric. “This one’s name is Gamakichi!” Naruto falls silent, fondly considering the toys as he turns them in his hands.

 

Sasuke swallows down the lump that builds at his throat from seeing Naruto’s warm eyes and enthusiasm. “They’re really cute.”

 

Naruto whips his head back up, baring an unfailingly bright grin in Sasuke’s direction. “Right? My godfather gave them to me when I was younger, apparently.” Naruto’s eyes grow distant again for a split second as he seems to grapple with something, but his smile returns again quickly, just as bright as before. “Here, Sasuke, catch!” Naruto yells as he launches the red toad in his direction. Sasuke’s usual quick reflexes fail him, beaten by the soreness of his cramped limbs from being in the same position for so long, and the toy hits him square in the face. Naruto’s resulting laugh rings through the air, as Sasuke’s face reddens and he picks up the offending toad and squishes it between his palms with a slight frown.

 

“You can keep Gamakichi for now,” Naruto smiles contently “I feel like he’s more your type than Gamatatsu. Now we can match!”

 

Sasuke’s frown deepens slightly. “Are you sure? Why don’t you want to keep them?”

 

A flicker of emotion flits across Naruto’s face and his grin turns sheepish. “Well, I mean I don’t mean keep him forever. Just like. Gamakichi can hang out with you in your room for a while, if you want! I just… I don’t know, I was thinking I wanted you to have him for a bit. Whatever, never mind, okay, give him back.” Naruto reaches out with a pout, but Sasuke just pulls the toy closer to his chest, hugging it against himself.

 

“No way, it’s mine now, no take backs,” Sasuke deadpans. Naruto just laughs, and goes back to shifting through his scattered junk. Sasuke brings up the toy to his face, in order to take a closer look. He can’t help but notice Gamakichi’s worn out fabric smells like Naruto.

 

Sasuke takes another cursory look around his living room. The pair had been at this for almost two hours. The majority of Naruto’s essentials, like his clothes and books, had been unpacked already, but now they were facing the real challenge. Naruto was a criminal hoarder, and in an attempt to make sure he had everything and anything he might need, Naruto had apparently enlisted his adoptive father, Iruka’s, help in packing up the contents of his room. Which is what Naruto had told Sasuke, so, from that, the latter had gathered that Naruto had left the majority of the packing to the last minute and Iruka had taken the burden onto himself, and just thrown anything he thought might be of vague necessity into the nearest box. So now the pair were resigned to go through all of it and decide what was worth keeping, and what they would have to take back to Iruka’s house the next day. In theory, the task was simple. But Naruto would get distracted by every other item in the ever expanding mess, and Sasuke would get distracted by Naruto. If it was just Sasuke, he was sure he would have been able to sort out what was necessary at least an hour ago, but he couldn’t bring himself to rush Naruto as he perused the assortment of items, each one with some different emotion and memory attached to them. Sasuke justified it to himself by thinking it was only Saturday, and they had taken the day off from work to move Naruto in properly anyways, he might as well take his time. But in reality, each silly thing Naruto pointed out, every short tangent he went on to explain some random thing he picked up, the constant narration of his belongings, watching Naruto spread the odds and ends he had accumulated through his life on Sasuke’s floor… It had the latter enraptured. Every small smile Naruto directed at some long forgotten book, and every every expression of excitement at a rediscovery of something important to him had Sasuke’s heart swelling, the inescapable warmth spreading through his chest. Naruto looked so fond; it wasn’t an expression Sasuke often saw on his face, and being able to watch him with it on, in the familiarity of his apartment, had Sasuke fighting to keep down his feelings.

 

Anxiety burns through Sasuke, and he suddenly gets up, groaning from the effort. Gingerly placing his weight on his half asleep leg, he looks at Naruto who is staring back at him. “C’mon, Naruto. Let’s take a break, we’ve been at this for a while.”

 

Naruto tosses a book into a nearby box. “Sure, what do you wanna do?” he inquires with a bright smile. Ever enthusiastic to busy himself with something new.

 

Sasuke hadn’t actually thought that far yet. He looks down at Naruto sprawled out on the ground, and then around the relatively sparsely decorated room. His mind wanders back to Naruto’s home where he had grown up. Sasuke had visited only a couple times, but the abundance of colour and splashes of personality amid the decor of the home were as vivid ever, from Iruka’s assortment of mismatched throw pillows, to the framed pictures of Naruto that dotted the home in between the scattering of show pieces. He looks back to Naruto who seems like he’s lost in thought himself, still staring up at Sasuke, waiting for him to respond.

 

“... Let’s go to Ikea.”

 

\---

 

Sasuke turns around, and Naruto is already gone. The latter had been extremely excited when Sasuke had posed the suggestion, and his enthusiasm hadn’t curbed upon arriving in the Swedish furniture jungle. They were here in order to add some colour to the apartment, but Sasuke was worried Naruto was going to turned their now shared residence into a den of orange hues. He had already had to drag Naruto away from an over-expensive orange couch, and now the relentless ball of energy had seemingly disappeared while Sasuke was looking at an array of potted plants.

 

“Sasuke!” Naruto reappears from his other side, proudly holding up a canvas painting. “Isn’t this nice?” he asks, looking at the painting in his hands as he showed it to Sasuke. It was another blindingly orange painting, of what seemed like a fox with eight or nine tails, depicted in an almost abstract style, messy brush strokes outlining the subject. “I think it’s a kitsune, I learned about it in a Comparative Lit class I took last semester. I feel a connection to it, Sasuke, I’m serious.”

 

Usually, Sasuke would oppose something this brightly orange, but he’s weak to Naruto’s smile, so he gives a half assed grumble about how he would have to put it in his own room and tells Naruto to put the painting in the cart, much to the latter’s delight. Sasuke picks out a medium sized assortment of fake hyacinths in a purple pot and they move on to the next section.

 

Shopping with Naruto is just as fun as doing anything else with Naruto, Sasuke discovers. Naruto’s enthusiasm is infectious and he doesn’t miss a single opportunity to make some kind of joke or jibe, drawing out Sasuke’s rare laughter time and time again. Sasuke feels himself respond with just as much enthusiasm, pointing out this and that, complaining about the price of some shelving unit that would be $30 cheaper at Walmart. When Naruto points out that the quality was at least fifty times worse at Walmart, Sasuke continues to gripe about employee discounts, much to Naruto’s entertainment. More than once, an elderly couple or a young pair of parents throw a look sideways at the rowdy, expressive pair, but as usual, Naruto and Sasuke are too caught up in their own world to notice.

 

Naruto finds a giant stuffed black cat at one point and insists that Sasuke get it for himself. Sasuke is embarrassed, but nonetheless dutifully puts it into the cart. He has a small smile on his face; Naruto had remembered that cats were his favourite animal from way back when he had told Naruto, back when they had first met and were still getting to know each other. It felt like it had been a millennia since then, but really it hadn’t been all that long. Sometimes it scared Sasuke how fast the two had gotten so close; a year ago they hadn’t known each other at all. Naruto had merely been a somewhat familiar face on campus that had always drawn his eye, but he had never been able to attach a name to his pretty smile. Then, out of pure financial desperation, he had filled out a Walmart employee application, and on his first day of work had been immediately accosted by the man he had considered distant occasional eye candy for the past year. Naruto and him had grown close since then, and although Naruto had professed to recognizing him from a class in first year right away, Sasuke had never mentioned that he had always been able to pick Naruto out of a crowd. He turns his head to look at Naruto digging through a bin of cushions, pulling out a purple one and then an orange one. Things had changed. He could still spot Naruto in a crowd almost immediately, as if his presence carried some kind of magnetic gravity only Sasuke was attuned to. But, more often than not, Sasuke wouldn’t even have to look up to find Naruto amongst a throng of people; Naruto never hesitated to call out for him, to the point that the voice inside his head that said his own name had taken on Naruto’s voice. The ever bright “Sasuke”, voice always tinged with laughter. And now, when Sasuke’s eyes meet Naruto’s, he can't control the swell of emotions that accompany the action. Things had changed, and now, here he was, shopping for house decor with his best friend. The man who, unbeknownst to him, had Sasuke’s whole heart in the palm of his hand.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> longer chapter than usual this time!! im hoping to put out better chapters now that im really getting to the midst of the story. i hope you all liked how this one turned out!


	10. Chapter 10

Sasuke was in the midst of struggling to push the shopping cart and pull Naruto in the opposite direction the blond was pulling Sasuke towards.

 

“Naruto, I swear to god, stop.”

 

“I wanna go to SMALL LAND, SASUKE.”

 

“You dumbass, you’re going to get arrested.”

 

“I’m great with kids. I wanna go in and watch the movie, they’re playing Frozen.”

 

Sasuke, didn’t even deign Naruto with a response and instead dropped the arm he had been pulling, and focussed on pushing the cart away, in the hopes of dissuading anyone from thinking he knew the soon to be convict whining about going into the children’s play area. He hadn’t even made it five feet before Naruto ran back to join him at his side. As though without a second thought, Naruto wound his left arm around Sasuke’s right that was pushing the cart. Sasuke’s muscles froze for a second, as he inconspicuously cast a glance at Naruto beside him. The latter seemed as if he was still caught up in his own world, complaining about Swedish pronunciations, innocently hanging onto Sasuke as he talked. Choosing to maintain an air of ignorance, Sasuke didn’t comment on it or shrug Naruto off as they headed towards the check out. 

 

They’d ended up with quite a few items in their cart, and Naruto had opted to pay for it all together, promising that they’d settle the cost later. But as they approached the check out counters, Naruto suddenly let go of Sasuke and lead him towards a lane on their left. As they approached the till, the cashier met them with a look of surprise and recognition. 

 

“Naruto? Hey, wow, how are you?”

 

“Hey, Sai!” Naruto’s ever bright expression maintained it's radiance as he chatted with his friend, explaining how they were here to spruce up the apartment and how he had seen him while they were coming to pay. Sasuke, on the other hand, felt a scowl settle on his face, and distinctly felt it deepen in increments every time Sai leaned forwards and flashed Naruto a smile so large it seemed almost forced. Just as he had placed the last item on the check out belt, Sai turned to Sasuke. 

 

“You must be Sasuke, correct? I’ve heard a lot about you from Naruto, haha, it seems like you’re all he’s been talking about recently!”

 

Sasuke couldn’t tell if he was imagining things or not, but Sai’s smile towards him seemed much colder than the one he had been aiming at Naruto not even ten seconds ago. In any case, the words Sai said made Sasuke’s heart jump in his chest, but Sai’s almost obvious flirting with Naruto still weighed enough on him that his scowl refused to budge. In the end, all he could manage was a slight “Hn,” before looking straight ahead past Sai’s handsome face that seemed to mock him. 

 

Naruto, realizing a beat too late that Sasuke’s previous good mood had evaporated, quickly stepped in trying to divert the conversation. Sai, however, was as persistent as he was blunt. 

 

“So, Sasuke, do you have any ulterior motives for letting Naruto move in with you?” 

 

This made both of them freeze, both turning a deep shade of red. Sure, ulterior motives could mean anything, but the way Sai had said it, his intonation really left no room for speculation. As Naruto’s embarrassed spluttering turned into half whispered shouts at Sai, who just smiled at Naruto in response as he rang up their items, Sasuke stood rooted to the spot trying to come up with something to say to shrug the entire situation off. In his somewhat panicked state, Sasuke blurted out “Who’d wanna sleep with Naruto, anyways?” 

 

Naruto’s annoyed expression which had been turned at Sai up until this point, turned towards Sasuke and slipped a fraction, into an almost disappointed look. However, not missing a beat, he retorted “Sasuke, you WISH you could get the chance to sleep with me.” 

 

Sasuke could feel his cheeks burning impossible hotter, and opted to ease his way out of the conversation with an incredibly forced laugh. Sai, for his part, had been watching the entire exchange with an air of amusement. 

 

“Your total is $106.78, will that be on credit?”

 

Naruto finally tore his eyes off of Sasuke, who had been pointedly checking out some display of Swedish chocolate and determinedly avoiding eye contact, to fumble with his wallet. After a quick transaction, Naruto and Sai exchanged farewells, while Sasuke gave a half hearted nod to Sai as he trailed behind Naruto, still too nervous and embarrassed to make eye contact. 

 

As he caught up to Naruto, safely away from the awkwardness Sasuke felt Sai had inflicted on them, Naruto cast him an apologetic glance. 

 

“Hey, Sasuke, um. I’m sorry about what Sai said back there, it was kinda weird, huh? He’s just… kind of a weird guy sometimes.” Naruto scratched the back of his head as he said this, a light blush still colouring his cheeks. The evil part of Sasuke’s brain whispered to him, taking him on a train of tranjecture, that Naruto was blushing because of Sai himself and that he had been embarrassed to have been teased about hooking up with Sasuke, specifically because he was indignant that it was Sasuke. He couldn’t help but let a scowl on his face form again. 

 

“Whatever, Naruto, it’s no big deal.”

 

Naruto was quiet for a moment, glancing sideways at Sasuke’s face. “It doesn’t seem like not a big deal. I’m serious, Sasuke, he didn’t mean anything by it.”

 

With an effort, Sasuke schooled his face as much as possible. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, Naruto, it’s fine, whatever. What he said didn’t even bug me, don’t worry about it.” He couldn’t say that what was really bugging him was Sai himself, and his obvious friendly flirting with Naruto. So he left it at that, and Naruto didn’t seem to want to pursue it anymore either. After a brief silence, they lapse back into normal conversation as they load up Sasuke’s car with their purchases, everything relatively back to normal by the time they had gotten home. 

 

After finally cleaning up the mess in the living from and a rather lively debate on how to arrange their Ikea haul, they had finally settled down with some pizza for dinner. As Sasuke munched on his own slice, Naruto just stared down at the pizza box, engrossed in a mental conversation with himself. As though he had finally decided on what to say, Naruto looked up to meet Sasuke’s eyes that had already been trained intently on him. 

 

Sasuke swallowed down his food, suddenly a bit nervous from the unnaturally serious look on Naruto’s face. “What’s up?”

 

Naruto tilted his head a bit as if he was considering the man before him. “It’s about earlier today, about how Sai was teasing me.”

 

Sasuke could feel the blush climbing back up his neck at the unbidden thought of Sai’s comment. “I already told you, Naruto, it’s fine, I’m over it. I just got a little flustered when he said that stuff, I’m not mad or anything.”

 

Naruto just shook his head. “Okay, I’m glad you’re not upset, but that’s not what I mean, yknow? I just… I wanted to tell you why Sai was teasing me like that. It’s cause I recently told him… I…” Naruto paused for a second, taking a breath as though steeling himself in preparation for what he was about to say next. Sasuke’s heart was racing and his brain felt as though it had stopped working in stupidly hopeful anticipation. 

 

“Sasuke, I’m bisexual.”

 

Sasuke felt his heart suddenly drop, and then soar, as he processed what Naruto had just said to him. Some tiny naive part of his brain had hoped this would be some kind of convoluted confession, but this was just as good. What Naruto had just said was enough to make the hopeful and hopelessly infatuated part of his mind expand triple it's normal size. He had assumed Naruto was straight, but if he was bi, then maybe…

 

Sasuke realized with a start that Naruto was still looking at him, waiting for a reaction, the apprehension getting clearer and clearer on his face by the second. 

 

“That’s great, Naruto! I mean, not great, like it’s a great thing but, uh. Thank you for telling me, like trusting me with that. And, like, I don’t judge you or anything at all, I’m gay, too.” The words spilled out of Sasuke’s mouth too fast in an attempt to comfort Naruto and avoid making him think that Sasuke was disgusted by Naruto’s orientation. However, he realized just a second too late, as soon as the words were out of his mouth, what he had said. In his own surprise at himself he clapped his hands over his own mouth, as Naruto stared at him almost blankly from across the table. 

 

“... You’re gay?” Naruto asked, almost skeptical, but also not wanting to upset Sasuke, in case he hadn’t meant to come out. Which he definitely hadn’t. 

 

Sasuke lowered his hands from his mouth slowly, looking down to gather his thoughts. He didn’t mind Naruto knowing, especially now since he had confided in Sasuke in the first place. He hadn’t expected to tell him like this, or even at all, but suddenly it felt as though a weight on his shoulders had been lifted. With a smile, he looked back up at Naruto. “Yeah. Yeah, I am gay. It feels good to be able to tell someone.”

 

Naruto’s face split into a grin larger than any Sasuke had seen on him all day. “Thanks for telling me, Sasuke. I really appreciate it, and of course I support you and all blah blah whatever.” Naruto lets out a little laugh. “I guess we’re kinda in the same, gay boat, huh?”

 

Sasuke’s smile softens. “Yeah, I guess so, Naruto.”

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to anon on tumblr who called me out for having "enough time to watch the jonas brothers but not to update the fic" who motivated me to finally write up this chapter.....this ones for u <3 
> 
> this was a bit more of a ~serious chapter i promise it'll get funnier soon....maybe,...... hope yall like it tho!


	11. Chapter 11

Living with Naruto was like a confusing dream. Since that first night, when Naruto and Sasuke had mutually confessed that neither was as straight as the other had thought, Sasuke’s mind and heart had been in turmoil. Everything felt like it was floating, and reality seemed almost warped. It felt like their relationship should have been totally transformed after sharing something so personal with each other, or even because of the fact that this left an open for a relationship to form, but everything seemed the same. Naruto and Sasuke grew closer, but nothing had changed. They were still the same pair of idiots; Naruto would goof off and Sasuke would turn his nose up at the formers antics while attempting to hide his obvious amusement. Naruto and Sasuke were still best friends, nothing about that had changed, yet Sasuke felt as though he was living in a dream.

 

And at the same time, living with Naruto was like breathing. It was almost terrifying how quickly the pair had adapted to living with each other, how easily Naruto fit into Sasuke’s life. They stayed up late talking and watching movies, they’d go to bed in their separate rooms, and in the morning Sasuke would poke his head through Naruto’s door, taking in his sleepy figure sprawled out over his matress, before reminding him to get up and turn his alarm off. Sasuke would eat his healthy raisin bran cereal, and Naruto would dump a pile of sugary cereal into his own bowl, and they would start their day together. Naruto started class earlier, so at first he would head out before Sasuke, and the latter would sit around killing time. But after a few days of living together, the house began to feel empty without Naruto’s presence, and Sasuke had taken to leaving with Naruto in the mornings, only to end up sitting in the library for almost an hour and a half until his first class. But it was worth it, because those walks to campus were some of Sasuke’s favourites. Before, getting to class was a chore, walking was time consuming and energy draining. Now, Sasuke wished the walk could last just a bit longer so he could hang around Naruto just for a moment more, so he could watch the blond kick a stone and smile as the sun hit his face.

 

They would eat meals together, they would go to class together, they would study together, they would relax together. They would even go to their Walmart shifts together. Sasuke and Naruto lived and breathed together.

 

Naruto seemed a bit different now. Paradoxically, more relaxed and on edge. It felt like Sasuke was seeing a new side of him, the side that came home after classes ended muttering frustratedly about some new assignment he had to do, the one that loudly recited his notes in the middle of the living room, the part of him that wordlessly picked up after Sasuke and took care of him in little ways like getting him a glass of water without being asked. Sometimes, it felt as though Naruto was nervous. Like he didn’t know if he was crossing some kind of boundary. Sasuke had caught him zoning out in his direction once when they had been studying together at the kitchen table, and Naruto had looked embarrassed and uncomfortable upon discovery. The incident had bothered Sasuke, but only because he never wanted Naruto to feel uncomfortable around him. Yet, he didn’t know how to express it, so they pretended it didn’t happen, that Sasuke didn’t notice. And things were fine. Naruto was constantly voicing how genuinely happy he was, and there was no doubt that the pair had gotten unbelievably closer. Naruto was happy living with Sasuke, and that made Sasuke all the more unbelievably happy.

 

It had been almost a month since Naruto had moved in, and things were going spectacularly, in Sasuke’s opinion. He had also started his research job with Kakashi, and things were going just as smoothly there. The work itself wasn’t much to speak of, mainly just consisting of stats and drudge work as Kakashi had warned, but the opportunity itself had done wonders for Sasuke’s mental well being. He was motivated and he was passionate, and he had even found some new friends in the other students working under Kakashi, Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo. 

 

For the first time in what seemed a long time, Sasuke woke up every morning feeling like everything was how it should be.

  
  


-

  
  


“NARUTO, I SWEAR TO GOD, HURRY THE FUCK UP.”

 

“I’M COMING, I’M COMING!!” Naruto bellowed from his room, stumbling out of the doorway still trying to stuff one of his legs into a pair of pants.

 

Sasuke looked at him in disdain as he struggled with the button. “Jesus, man, you’re going to make us both late. I told you not to stay up so late last night, you know you can’t wake up in the mornings.”

 

“Listen, it's not MY fault you decided to put on that movie so late. And we both fell asleep on the couch, it's not even my fault. AND, I fell asleep first, so you should’ve woken me up,” Naruto huffed, stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth as he quickly grabbed his keys and vest. Sasuke just rolled his eyes, not wanting to admit that the main reason he hadn’t woken Naruto up, which had consequently led to both of them falling asleep on the couch and missing their alarms, was because Naruto had fallen asleep on Sasuke’s shoulder, and Sasuke hadn’t had the heart to move him.

 

“You look like an anime girl,” Sasuke remarked as he took in Naruto shuffling his way over to the front door and trying to stuff his feet into his sneakers as the piece of toast still hung from his mouth.

 

Naruto grabbed the toast and took a bite as he brushed past Sasuke, leaving him to lock the apartment up, mumbling “It’s cause I’m cute,” through a mouthful of bread. Sasuke’s ears tinged red as he locked the door, and made his way over to Naruto. The latter was still absentmindedly chewing on his toast, crumbs stuck to the side of his mouth. Almost against his will, Sasuke reached out towards him, wiping away the few crumbs on Naruto’s face, fingers grazing his lips. Naruto froze, eyes widening a fraction. Sasuke was just as surprised by his own actions, not knowing what had taken over him. But before either of them could say anything, the elevator in front of them dinged and opened its doors, snapping the pair back into reality.

 

The drive to work was mildly chaotic, as Naruto attempted to steer his orange metal death trap while Sasuke complained about every other shitty driver on the road from the shotgun seat. They ended up getting to work with barely a minute to spare, each of them rushing to their positions as fast as they could in order to avoid getting yelled at by their (as Sasuke dubbed him) “bitch of a manager” Hiruzen again.

 

Throughout his shift, Sasuke found his gaze wandering towards Naruto as he ran back and forth from the tills to the customer service desk and then out onto the floor, doing his best to help with every customer's obstinate needs. But it was Walmart, of course, and just as Naruto was approaching his till, Sasuke’s attention was wrestled away by a looming figure of some 7 foot tall guy who looked like he hadn’t showered in at least half a month. He heard Naruto snicker behind him, and saw his figure move away again from the corner of his eye as he mindlessly scanned item after item. Sasuke just sighed, telling himself that it wasn’t like he wouldn’t be seeing Naruto again in just a few hours after their shift ended. Keeping that thought in his mind like his only beacon of light and hope, Sasuke shifted into complete corporation drone mode, dealing with customer after customer until finally his shift ended.

 

As Sasuke gathered up his stuff in the back room, a hand clapped him on the shoulder, unnecessarily hard. Sasuke turned to glare at Naruto, who flashed him a bright grin in return. 

 

“I gotta buy some stuff before we go,” Naruto told him, as he put his own vest into his bag. 

 

Sasuke tilted his head at him a bit. “I thought we bought groceries, what do you need?”

 

“Yeah, not groceries, just some other stuff. I saw this one thing today in returns and I gotta have it now,” Naruto answered back easily, flashing Sasuke another grin.

 

“You waste way too much money, Naruto,” Sasuke frowned at him. But it wasn’t as if he had the power to fight Naruto’s smile, so the pair headed back out into the wilderness of Walmart’s fluorescent lit aisles, picking their way through the wares, tossing toiletries and snacks into their basket. They end up in the men’s clothing section as Naruto walks around picking up random shirts and showing them off to Sasuke, who just shakes his head in response.

 

“Look at how many Fortnite shirts they have, Sasuke!”

 

“You don’t even play Fortnite, idiot.”

 

“I could start. Look, there's a llama on it!”

 

At one point, Sasuke had to physically stop Naruto from wasting his money on the stupidest t-shirt he had seen in his life.

 

“Sasuke. Come on. C’monnnnn, Sasuke, look it's perfect.”

 

“I swear to god, Naruto, if you buy that I’m taking your car and leaving you here. You can live at Walmart for the rest of your life.”

 

“It’s DONKEY KONG and it says ‘I AM A BEAST!’. Literally, I have never seen anything more fashionable in my life, Sasuke.”

 

“I’m not kidding, Naruto, I’ll kill you.”

 

They argue and joke their way to the shoe section, when Naruto finally finds what he’s looking for. “Aha!” Naruto exclaims, before pulling a pair of giant, pink, synthetic fur slippers off the rack. “Okay, got what I wanted, we can go to check out now.”

 

Sasuke looked at him with the eyes of an utterly defeated man. “You know those are women’s slippers, right, Naruto?”

 

Naruto locks Sasuke with the most serious gaze he can muster. “Gender is a prison,” he deadpans, before turning on his heel, slippers slung over his shoulder, sauntering towards the cash registers. Sasuke can’t hold his laughter back and is still chuckling to himself as he catches up to Naruto, who gives him a warm sideways smile.

 

As they stand in line, waiting to be rung up, Naruto turns to Sasuke. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Sakura texted me earlier, she invited us to a party at her place next Friday.”

 

Sasuke paused. “Us?”

 

Naruto smiled, not his usual grin, but something warmer. “Yeah, I know you’re not much of a party guy, but it’ll be fun! You haven’t really met most of my friends yet anyways, I’m pretty sure you only know, like, Sakura and Sai.” Sasuke’s face darkens a fraction at the mention of Sai’s name, but Naruto doesn’t seem to notice. “And, anyways, Sakura’s insisting I drag you along for this one, too. She wants to actually meet you properly, she said. She was also complaining about how I haven’t been to any parties or hung out with her much since I moved in with you, but that’s bullshit, haha, I mean it’s not like I went to a ton of parties before anyways, or anything.” Naruto looked a bit embarrassed, scratching the back of his head as he tried to get his thoughts back on track. “But, yeah. This coming Friday. It’ll be fun. We don’t even have to stay too long or anything, I’ll leave whenever you want to leave. Plus, it’ll be fun to see you at a party. I haven’t gotten to see wildin’ out Sasuke yet.” Naruto laughed, waggling his eyebrows in Sasuke’s direction.

 

Sasuke frowned. It wasn’t as though he was the most asocial person in the world, but he generally avoided parties out of principle. He didn’t like drinking much, and loud, rowdy college students wasn’t really his walk in the park. But, at the same time, this was the first time Naruto had invited Sasuke along to a party like this, where it would be someplace with people besides the two of them. Naruto hadn’t seen Sasuke at parties, but Sasuke hadn’t seen Naruto either, and he was interested to say the least. And, inevitably, the sadist part of his brain that loved to torture the lovesick part, whispered that it would be a good opportunity to see if Naruto had any…. close relationships…. with anyone else. 

 

In the end, Sasuke just shrugged. “Sure, I’ll come on Friday,” apprehension settling in the minute the words were out of his mouth. Naruto grinned his bright smile in response, and the tension in his chest eased a little, but as he stared at the back of Naruto’s nape as the other unloaded their shopping basket, the anxiety refused to leave. Sasuke had a bad feeling about what he had just agreed to.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIII i went to walmart today for the first time in at least half a year and bought pink fur slippers and then remembered i hadn't updated this fic in like two weeks. oh my god im so sorry. i promise ill be better from now on LOL.. hope u guys like the chapter :3


	12. Chapter 12

Naruto has gotten touchier lately. Or maybe Sasuke had just recently become more aware of the blonds tendency to rest his hand on him, or touch him while talking, or even just sit on the couch right up against him. Sasuke had doubted himself at first, but even the rational part of his mind had begun to point out how Naruto took any and every opportunity to touch him. At first he had merely chalked it up to them living together and Naruto feeling more comfortable around him, but it increasingly felt as though his personal space had merged with Naruto’s. Not that he minded the blond invading his bubble, just the opposite in fact, but it served to fuel the ever present turmoil in his heart. He didn’t have a standard of reference for how Naruto acted around his other friends; he had never actively hung out with Naruto’s friend group and, before this, the slight jealousy he harboured made him averse to analyzing just how close and physical Naruto got with others. But now, Sasuke agonized over it. He had no idea if Naruto was just hands on like this with people he was close to, or if it was… something else.

 

In short, Sasuke had suddenly had a change of heart and was increasingly looking forward to the party. He had spent the last few days mulling over his recent awareness of Naruto’s overwhelming physical presence around him, ever since they had gotten back from Walmart the other day. Naruto, complaining about how tired he was, had flung himself onto Sasuke’s lap, who had been sitting on the couch, and refused to get up for a good ten minutes. It hadn’t been too different from their usual roughhousing, but at one point Naruto just put his arms around Sasuke’s neck and lay his head on his shoulder. It was such a tender action, Sasuke had frozen in surprise. After a few minutes of just sitting like that together Naruto has let out a small laugh and gotten up, slightly red faced (from exertion, Sasuke assumed) and mumbling about changing into his pyjamas so he could wear his new slippers. Sasuke was left on the couch, his heart thundering in his ears, doubt and hope creeping into his mind about the innocence of Naruto’s actions. After days of contemplation and over analyzing every interaction he had with his best friend, Sasuke had concluded there was no way to deduce intention from Naruto’s actions without seeing him in the context of his other friends. And, thus, the party.

 

Currently, Sasuke was standing in his room looking at three very subtly different black shirts, deliberating over which one he should wear. The party was in a little less than an hour, and Sasuke could hear Naruto in the shower, also starting to get ready. _‘Another motivation for going to this stupid party,’_ Sasuke thought to himself. He was very much looking forward to seeing Naruto tonight. Usually, Naruto tended to dress down, always running around campus in sweats and the same old orange hoodie, or at Walmart in ill fitting polyester slacks, or at home in his frog patterned pyjama pants. Embarrassing as it may be for a college student, Sasuke never went to parties, and since Naruto had moved in neither had he, so Sasuke never got the opportunity to see how Naruto looked when he was actively trying to look presentable. Not that Sasuke thought Naruto ever looked bad, but he was still curious.

 

Tossing the shirts onto his unmade bed, Sasuke opted to dig around his closet and pull out a pair of black skinny jeans. The least he could do was decide on those, he supposed. Just as he finished pulling on the jeans, Naruto popped his head in through the door.

 

“Jesus, Naruto, what happened to knocking first?!” Sasuke grumbled, although there was no bite to his words. He had become acclimatized to Naruto unceremoniously coming into his room. However, as he turned to look at him, Sasuke felt his ears heat up.

 

Naruto, fresh out of the shower, clad only in a pair of dark jeans, strolled into Sasuke’s room. “I just wanted to see if you were getting ready yet or not,” he said innocently, seemingly unaware of Sasuke rooted to where he stood, eyes glued to Naruto’s abdomen. He walked around the small space, hands playing with the assortment of weird shit on Sasuke’s desk before his eyes came to rest on the shirts lying on his bed. Naruto scrunched up his nose, turning towards Sasuke. With considerable effort, Sasuke tore his eyes up from Naruto’s well toned chest to look at him.

 

“Are you gonna wear one of the black shirts?” Naruto asked, still apparently oblivious to Sasuke blatantly checking him out.

 

“Uhh…” Sasuke’s brain had yet to catch up to the situation at hand, still focussed on Naruto’s bare shoulders in the peripheral of his vision.

 

Without waiting for a response, Naruto brushes past him, and starts rooting through his closet. After a few moments he triumphantly pulls out a dark purple v-neck.

 

“You should wear this!” Naruto exclaims, tossing the shirt towards a still flustered Sasuke, who catches it against his chest and holds it up to examine it. It was a pretty nice shirt, just not his usual go to. He tended to prefer the many shades of black hoodies and sweatshirts he owned, and he had forgotten he even owned colour in his wardrobe.

 

“You look really good in purple,” Naruto quipped, gazing at Sasuke. Sasuke felt his ears heat up impossibly hotter.

 

“You’ve never even seen me wear purple,” Sasuke grumbled, eyes still focussed on the shirt in his hands, in part wary of meeting Naruto’s eyes and in part keeping himself from openly ogling him.

 

“That’s not true!” Naruto exclaims. “You were wearing this shirt the first time we hung out outside of work, I remember.”

 

Sasuke looks up, surprised. “That was ages ago. There’s no way you actually remember what I was wearing that time, you’re lying.”

 

Naruto rolls his eyes, looking over at the corner of the room. “I’m not lying,” he says, not meeting Sasuke’s eyes. “I do remember, I remember you looked good. You looked good in that shirt.”

 

At this point, Sasuke was sure his face was burning bright red. In an attempted show of nonchalance, he shrugs. “Okay, I’ll wear it,” he accedes.

 

Just as Naruto turns towards him again, grin on his face, Sasuke pulls off the old t-shirt he’s wearing and slowly pulls on the purple one Naruto had handed him. He tugs the shirt on, and looks at Naruto, who is still looking at him, grin somewhat frozen on his face. Naruto blinks a couple times and he’s back to normal, exclaiming “See! You look great, you shouldn’t wear black all the time.” Sasuke must have imagined the heat in Naruto’s eyes.

 

Sasuke goes to throw the other t-shirt onto the pile on the floor of his closet, as Naruto picks up one of the offending black t-shirts from the bed. As Sasuke turns back towards him, Naruto holds up the shirt towards Sasuke. It’s his favourite one, with a deep v-neck and a fan symbol on the back.

 

“Actually, do you mind if I wear this?”

 

“What?” Sasuke stars at Naruto, who’s holding his favourite shirt, waiting for an answer, still half naked. “Uh, I mean. Yeah, sure. If you want to.”

 

Naruto flashes him a smile. “Thanks!” he says, as he pulls the shirt over his head. Naruto’s finally got clothes on, but Sasuke still feels lightheaded seeing Naruto in his clothes. The two are similar in stature, so the shirt fits well on Naruto, just the tiniest bit snug around the shoulders. Sasuke feels like his heart is threatening to jump out of his chest as Naruto turns around to check himself out in the mirror, tucking the front of the shirt into his jeans.

 

Naruto, satisfied with how Sasuke’s shirt looks on him turns back and heads over to the door. “Okay, I’m gonna go finish getting ready. Let’s head out in like twenty, yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” Sasuke lets out faintly. As soon as Naruto closes the door behind him, Sasuke lets himself collapse onto his bed. Naruto was driving him to the brink of insanity.

 

_‘It’s going to be a long night.’_

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i totally wanted to post this chapter earlier, i apologize!! ive been really caught up with school and stuff (ive actually been busy writing an academic paper on naruto... ironic). i know this chapters kinda short but ill try and have the next part up in a few days!! hope yall like this!! a bit of a diff pace than usual hehe
> 
> also shoutout to midcenturymodernmediaconsole on tumblr for sending me this art!! they said it reminded them of this fic hehe <3 https://soughtflower.tumblr.com/post/183694389182/electric-firefly-x-artist-kira-permission  
> (also also my tumblr is @/soughtflower if anyone would like to follow me there!)


	13. Chapter 13

Twenty minutes later, Sasuke walks out into the living room, ready to go as promised. He finds Naruto texting at the speed of light while sprawled out over the couch, still wearing Sasuke’s t-shirt. As Naruto looks up at him, Sasuke notices the splash of orange eyeshadow on his lids and feels his heart flutter. Naruto looks amazing.

 

“Sasuke, you look amazing!” Naruto exclaims, sitting up straight and tucking his phone into his pocket. Sasuke rolls his eyes, heart beating too fast.

 

“I look the same as I did like twenty minutes ago, all i did was brush my hair a bit,” Sasuke says as he walks towards the door and pulls his shoes on. Naruto gets up and follows him. Sasuke stands back up and turns around to find Naruto leaning into his face and involuntarily takes a step back.

 

Naruto laughs. “You look good, Sasuke,” he repeats, weaving around him and going to put on his own shoes.

  
Sasuke feels his ears go red. “So do you, idiot,” he mumbles. Naruto just smiles at the ground in response, still busy with his shoelaces. As Naruto straightens up, Sasuke asks “So are you sure you just wanna walk there? You know I don’t mind driving right, I don’t have to drink tonight.”

“Nah, c’mon, Sasuke, I told you it’s fine like a million times already. Sakura’s place is real close, it's barely a ten minute walk. Plus, you should have fun, I don’t want you to not have to drink.”

 

“You don’t have to drink to have fun,” Sasuke retorts.

 

Naruto just laughs. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, but this way if you decide you do want to, there’s nothing holding you back,” Naruto replies with a wink.

 

Sasuke just sighs and gestures at Naruto to get a move on, and follows him out the door, locking up behind them.

 

The short walk to Sakura’s place is relatively quiet. The setting sun beams bathe the streets in golden light, and Sasuke can’t help but take an occasional glance at Naruto walking beside him, hands behind his head, looking forwards as though he had something on his mind. His profile was sharp, jaw jutting out, strands of blond hair tucked behind his ears. The sunlight bounced off his skin and gave him the appearance that he was glowing. The three light scars on his right cheek, that Naruto said he had gotten while he was in the foster system, curled upwards from his mouth like barely visible whiskers. Sasuke’s eyes kept wandering to him. It was impossible to keep his eyes off Naruto. 

 

Once more, Sasuke turned his head just so to glance at the man beside him, only to find Naruto looking back. Naruto smiled, holding his gaze for a few seconds longer, and then wordlessly turning his head back to look straight forwards. Sasuke, didn’t say anything either, heart clenched as they kept walking.

 

A few minutes pass and the pair turn the corner and arrive upon a nondescript apartment block. Naruto, who had been silently navigating up until now, seemed to snap out of his reverie and turned to look at Sasuke with a grin.

 

“We’re here! Come on, we don’t have to go in through the building, Sakura and Ino live on the first floor and they said they left the porch door open.” As Naruto says this, he links his arm with Sasuke and pulls him forward. Sasuke, used to Naruto’s manhandling, let himself be dragged along with only a small noise of surprise.

 

They go around to the back of the apartment building, and Sasuke can hear the low bass of music already. Arms still linked, Naruto and Sasuke step in through the porch door and into the chaos of the party. Immediately, they, or rather, Naruto, is met with an uproarious welcome, at least two separate voices yelling “FINALLY” and another one quipping “Oh, dickless showed up”. 

 

Naruto’s arm falls away from Sasuke, as he enthusiastically greets everyone. Sasuke, on the other hand, just hovers by the screen doors, unsure of what he should do. He recognizes a handful of faces, either from brief encounters on campus when he went to meet up with Naruto or just through Naruto’s social media. He realizes, albeit too late, that it’s probably a bit weird for him to be here; he seriously doesn’t know anyone here except Naruto, who was still greeting everyone. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he starts strategizing how to best leave the party early without spoiling the fun for Naruto, when he feels someone roughly throw a hand around his shoulders.

 

“Everyone knows Sasuke, right? Everyone this is Sasuke, finally making his grand debut!! WHOOO!!” Naruto all but hollers in Sasuke’s ear, arm wound tight around his neck, and Sasuke instinctively scowls at him. Naruto, however, is met by laughter and general sounds of agreement from the rest of the party. Sasuke turns his attention back towards everyone else and is met with half a dozen variations of “Hey, Sasuke” as if it was his first day of school or something. Not really knowing what else to do, Sasuke gives the crowd a weak wave, which makes Naruto laugh again beside him. Introductions generally out of the way, everyone turns back to their previous conversations and Naruto drags Sasuke past the groups of people, towards the kitchen.

 

As they make their way towards the back of the apartment, Naruto drops Sasuke’s arm again and shouts out to the three people standing by the counter, and envelopes the pink haired girl in a rough embrace.

 

‘Ugh, get off me dweeb,” Sakura gripes as she hugs Naruto back, and pulls away and grabs him by the shoulders as if to consider him. “Jeez, I haven’t seen you in AGES. Look at you all glammed up, huh, don’t you dare tell me you did all this for me, we both know that’s not true.”

 

Naruto laughs again. “Ino gave me some makeup tips, I got ready kinda early today so I thought I’d give it a go,” he says, half shrugging and gesturing towards the taller girl with the platinum blonde hair slicked back into a ponytail.

 

The girl, who Sasuke presumes is Ino, scoffs. “All you did was rub some eyeshadow on, didn’t you? Don’t associate yourself with me, you’re gonna make me look bad.” She stops for a second and then leans in closer to consider Naruto more closely. “Actually, I take it back, the orange looks good on you. Nice one, Naruto,” she smiles. Naruto grins back in response, thanking her. Sakura, meanwhile has been looking past Naruto and at Sasuke. 

 

“Well, if it isn’t the reason I haven’t seen Naruto in over a month. Hey, Sasuke, nice to see you again!” Before Sasuke can even respond, Sakura surprises him with a quick hug. They had met a couple times before, but Sasuke didn’t really have a strong impression of her, aside from grudging respect, since she was apparently in pre-med, and the small seed of jealousy at how close she was with Naruto. 

 

“Uh, hey. Yeah, nice to see you. Thanks for inviting me tonight,” Sasuke says once Sakura steps back. Ino steps forwards to stand next to Sakura, and stretches out her hand towards Sasuke. 

 

“Hey, Sasuke, I’m Ino, Sakura’s girlfriend. Nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you,” Ino says as she shakes Sasuke’s hand. Sasuke can’t help but blink at the word girlfriend, his shallow feelings of animosity towards Sakura immediately vanishing. His smile imperceptibly grows a degree, as he returns Ino’s greeting. 

 

“It’s nice to meet you, too. You’ve heard about me? I hope only good things,” Sasuke quips, casting a wary glance in Naruto’s direction, who is standing a bit off to the side watching Sasuke meet his friends with a smile on his face. Before anyone can say anything though, a third voice chimes out. 

 

“Hello, Sasuke, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it!” Reluctantly, Sasuke turns to look at Sai, who has a friendly smile plastered on his face. 

 

“Yeah, nice to see you, man. Has it been a while? I don’t really recall.” Sasuke had known Sai was going to be here, Naruto had even taken the time to give him a heads up, but he couldn’t help but be a little petulant. Although, he did have Sai to thank for the accidental coming out incident, he supposed, so Sasuke figured he could at least be civil towards him tonight. 

 

Mind made up to at least attempt polite conversation, Sasuke opens his mouth to say something, but before he can get the words out, Sai cuts in. 

 

“So, have you seen Naruto’s micropenis yet?” Sai throws out nonchalantly, same smile still plastered on his face. The reaction is immediate: Sakura and Ino burst out laughing, Naruto yells and jumps at Sai, Sai ducks to avoid the punch to the face, and Sasuke’s ears turn bright red, but a small laugh is still ripped from him, caught off guard by the juvenile joke. Naruto turns towards Sasuke with a look of pure betrayal. 

 

“I do NOT have a small dick,” Naruto says loudly, garnering the laughs of a few people in the peripheral. One person chimes in with “Suuuure you don’t, Naruto” and Naruto flips him off, shouting “Eat it, Kiba!!” 

 

Laughing, Naruto is pulled away into a conversation with said Kiba and the other two with him. Sasuke turns back away from Naruto to see Sakura, Ino and Sai regarding him with something akin to amusement. 

 

“So, uh…” Sasuke’s social skills hadn’t gotten any better. He wasn’t some overly anxious awkward wallflower type, he was fine around the students at work and the few acquaintances he had. And Naruto, of course. But around Naruto’s friends whom he barely knew, Sasuke felt at a loss. 

 

As if she could read his mind Sakura smiles warmly at him. “Relax, Sasuke, we’re all friends here. Grab a drink, chill. Everyone’s really nice, and hell if we don’t already know more about you than you probably know about us.”

 

Sasuke rises to the bait despite himself. “What do you mean you already know about me?” he inquires, failing to keep the curiosity out of his voice. Ino and Sai let out a loud laugh and Sakura’s eyes seem to twinkle as her grin widens. 

 

“What I MEAN, is that Naruto literally never shuts up about you,” Sakura proclaims rather smugly. Casting a quick glance over at Naruto who’s engrossed in an argument with Kiba to make sure he’s not listening, Sakura continues. “Literally you talk to Naruto and it’s all ‘Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke’, basically since he met you. God, I almost started hating you at one point cause he would never shut up. I’m half convinced Sai does hate you.” Sasuke, rather taken aback, takes a quick glance at Sai who’s still smiling without revealing a single emotion behind his eyes. Sasuke wouldn’t doubt Sai hated him, either. “Not to mention,” Sakura goes on, “that every time he used to talk about you it had to do with work. Do you know how many Walmart stories I’ve had to suffer through because of you, Sasuke? Way too many. Like, who would willingly talk  _ that _ enthusiastically about work if they worked at Walmart. At least moving in together gave us something other than having to forcibly vicariously live the experiences of working at Walmart customer service, but now he just talks about you even more. Drives us all a bit crazy to be honest, but, I mean, at least Naruto’s happy.”

 

Sasuke’s only half aware he’s gaping, but before he can get a word in edgewise, Ino chimes in. “Don’t forget about the job itself! Remember how it was only supposed to be a summer gig, and then Sasuke started working in August just before Naruto was gonna quit, and then  _ suddenly _ for completely  _ unrelated  _ reasons, Naruto decided to keep working? Even though mister ‘I’m so busy’ already had a psych internship and like a gazillion other things to balance? Classic,” Ino said, her tone implying as if there was some other obvious motivation behind Naruto’s actions. 

 

Everyone was looking pointedly at Sasuke, as if they knew something he didn’t. “I mean,” Sasuke started, unsure of what to say, “Naruto got that promotion to customer service when I got hired, that’s probably why he stayed.” He’s met with the same amused faces and a small laugh from Sai. “And, uh. Naruto and I are good friends,” Sasuke adds on, wincing at how weak his words sounded to himself. They were more than just good friends, but it probably wouldn’t be appropriate to declare that he was Naruto’s  _ best _ friend and that Sasuke was secretly in love with him. Although from the look in Sakura’s face, she seemed to have already guessed the latter. She was oddly perceptive, considering Sasuke had only been here for a grand total of maybe ten minutes. 

 

“Right. Friends. That’s why what I said about you two sleeping together that one time was kind of awkward, wasn’t it Sasuke?” Sai tilts his head in question. “I wanted to apologize for that by the way, it was neither the time nor the place for a joke like that,” Sai smiles again and Sasuke’s face burns from embarrassment at the memory of his overreaction from that day at Ikea. 

 

Sasuke waves it off, wanting to change the topic as fast as possible. “Past is in the past, I overreacted a bit that day anyways it’s not a big deal. Not like anything between me and Naruto even happened,” seeing the raised eyebrows from the girls and Sai’s smile widen a fraction, Sasuke hurriedly continues. “Anyways, so how do you guys all know each other and Naruto?”

 

Sakura seems to take pity on him and allows the change in conversation. “Naruto and I have known each other since elementary, and he knows Ino through me, too. Ino and I have been friends since we were little as well, and then we started dating in highschool, it’s all very sweet and gushy.” As Sakura says this, Ino smiles and winds her arm around Sakura’s to hold her hand. Sasuke smiles at the pair, inexplicably happy for them. Sakura goes on. “Naruto and I met Sai in university, first year. He was in one of our junior core english classes, and he spent all of our group discussion time doodling and then would still get higher on his papers than us. We hated him,” Sakura laughs. “But, I mean, now we’re cool obviously. Sai’s an art major by the way, you should see some of his stuff it’s amazing. Oh, and Ino’s in botany, and I’m in pre-med. What are you in, Sasuke?”

 

“Wow, that’s really cool, nice. Oh, I’m in Criminology,” Sasuke responds. 

 

“Right, yeah, Naruto said you got an internship with some big shot professor. How is that?” Ino asks. 

 

Sasuke blinks in surprise. “Oh, he told you guys about that? Yeah, I did, it’s mostly just like really boring data entry work and statistics analyzing and stuff, but just working there and talking to Professor Hatake and the grad students is really interesting, I really enjoy it. At any rate, I have Naruto to thank for it, yknow, he’s the one who technically got me the interview.

 

“Oh please,” Sakura scoffs, “as if we don’t know how it went down. Naruto was freaking out about getting you that interview but it was totally just a really good accident. He told us about your interview, he said you totally crushed it, right? You must be really smart, Naruto never shuts up about the stuff you tell him. It’s even made him more ‘socially conscious’, as he puts it. Anyways, what I’m saying is, give yourself some more credit, you got that job on your own merit.” 

 

Sasuke can feel the blush creeping back onto his face. Unable to deal with both the knowledge of Naruto being so enthusiastic about Sasuke’s academics and the barrage of compliments from Sakura, he just ducks his head and mumbles his thanks. 

 

Before long, Sasuke is caught up in a conversation on art with Sai of all people, and Sakura and Ino have wandered off. Other people come by and join in on the conversation once in a while. Naruto comes back after a while, face rather somber. 

 

“Whatcha guys talkin’ about?” Naruto says, leaning into Sasuke. 

 

“Nothing much, Naruto,” Sai smiles at him. “Have you made your rounds with everyone yet? I’m pretty sure Hinata was dying to talk to you.”

 

Naruto frowns. “Yeah, I talked to her, but then Kiba came in and started being a dick again.” Suddenly, Naruto turns towards Sasuke, still leaning on him. “Sasuke, let's get a cat so Kiba never comes over. He hates cats,” Naruto declares. 

 

Sasuke looks back at him in warm amusement. “Okay, I love cats. Are you already drunk, idiot?” 

 

Naruto pouts. “I only had a couple drinks, I’m just a bit tipsy.” Sasuke thinks it’s unfair that Naruto can look this good and also this cute. 

 

“Okay, lightweight, whatever you say,” Sasuke accedes, content to go back to the conversation he had been having. When he looks back up again though, Sai has disappeared. 

 

Naruto seems to notice the absence as well. “Oh, did Sai leave? Ok, good.” Naruto smiles, as if talking himself. “M’so happy you like my friends, Sasuke. I saw you talking to Sakura and them, it made me so happy,” Naruto mumbles, pushing himself further into Sasuke’s side. Sasuke’s arm instinctively goes around Naruto to support him, as they stand in the corner of the room together. “But,” Naruto frowns again, “you were kinda talking to Sai too much. You don’t like him do you?” Naruto says suddenly, turning towards Sasuke, inches away from his face. 

 

Sasuke is taken aback, and an exasperated laugh escapes him, unbidden. “No way, Naruto, we were just talking. You know, just cause I’m gay doesn’t mean I wanna fuck any guy that I talk to for more than five minutes.” Naruto’s gaze wavers for a second, somewhat hesitant. He’s so close that Sasuke can count the individual lashes on his eyes, and it makes Sasuke’s heart leap to his throat. 

 

“That’s… not what I meant. I don’t know. Y’know, Sai’s gay too, right? I’m not outing him, m’just saying, he’s pretty open about it. And… I don’t know. And I didn’t out you, either. Except like. Kind of. I kind of told Sakura, but that’s it. Will you forgive me, Sasuke.” Naruto looks appropriately distraught. Sasuke has no idea what they were talking about anymore. 

 

“Yeah, Naruto, it’s fine it’s not some big secret.” He feels Naruto visibly relax against him. “And I don’t like Sai, gay or not. He’s not my type.”

 

“What’s your type then?” Naruto asks. Sasuke stiffens. There was no way to answer that question truthfully without giving himself away; he had only ever felt this strongly about Naruto, his feelings washing away any past crushes. In short, his type was just Naruto. Sasuke inwardly cursed himself for backing himself into a corner like this. 

 

Taking Sasuke’s silence as an invitation to press forward, Naruto asks again. “Do you like anyone, Sasuke?” He giggles to himself. “I sound like a sixth grader. But I really wanna know, we never talk about relationship stuff. Do you have a crush on anyone?”

 

Sasuke looks back at Naruto, his face still inches away from his own, eyes staring him down, as if Naruto was challenging him. “If we’re gonna act like sixth graders, then you first. Do you have a crush on anyone?”

 

Naruto just hums in response, eyes not leaving Sasuke’s. “I guess you could say that. I don’t think it’s just a crush, though,” Naruto replies, frustratingly vague. With that, Naruto leans just a bit more into Sasuke, and then detaches himself and rejoins the rest of the party. Sasuke stands there for a second by himself, blood rushing through his ears, trying to collect himself. 

 

Sakura comes to find him still standing there, trying to decipher the meaning behind Naruto’s words and the look in his eyes. Without much warning, she drags him off to another room for a game of beer pong, and Sasuke is distracted from Naruto yet again. 

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapters a bit longer this time!! i was gonna post the wholeee party scene together but i think this is okay. ill try and post another chapter soon! lmk if yall like it :3


	14. Chapter 14

The room is loud and chaotic. Sakura is just like Naruto, shouting to make herself heard over the din of the room, cracking jokes and yelling at random people not to ruin her apartment. Sasuke had taken refuge beside Ino; he found she was just the right amount of bitchy to complement Sasuke. Ino provided Sasuke with a running commentary on who’s who, who’s fucking who, and who’s just fucking crazy, that had Sasuke laughing along.

 

“... Oh, and that’s Shino. We had a class together when I took a required entomology course. He’s so weird, I think he keeps bugs in his jacket. Oh, and that’s Shikamaru, lazy ass meninist. He’s a good friend, though.”

 

Sasuke looks over and, to his surprise, sees Mr. Lung-Cancer-‘this is such a drag’ from work. “Hey, I know him.”

 

“Yeah, Naruto got him that Walmart job cause Shikamaru would never shut up about how he was broke but complaining that finding a job was too much of a drag.”

 

“Weird, I never see them talk at work.”

 

Ino casts a look at him. “Probably cause you’re there with him, Sasuke,” she laughs. “Hey!” she suddenly notices another figure. “When’d Neji get here? That’s Neji, he’s over there by Lee, and I think that’s Gaara over there, too, huh.”

 

Sasuke looks over to see another vaguely familiar face. “Oh, I know him too. Neji. He was in a couple of my sociology courses, we talked a few times after class.”

 

Ino looks a bit surprised. “Really? I didn’t think either of you would be the type to make acquaintances like that.”

 

Sasuke is about to tell her that they were less acquaintances, more prideful keeners, eager to show off their pretentiousness through pointless “debate” with each other, but Neji seems to notice the pair just then and heads their way.

 

“Sasuke, right? Nice to see you here. I’m surprised you know anyone in this crowd,” Neji says as soon as he’s within earshot. Yeah, Sasuke definitely remembers Neji. What a prick.

 

“Hey, Neji, nice to see you outside of class for once. Yeah, I mean I know Sakura, kinda, I guess. It was mostly just Naruto that dragged me here, but I’m having a pretty good time.” Sasuke hopes that’s enough to shake Neji off and let him move on to make pleasantries with the next person.

 

The red haired guy with barely visible eyebrows and awful eyebags looks at Sasuke curiously. “So, you are Naruto’s Sasuke. It is nice to meet you, I am Gaara.”

 

Sasuke just stares Gaara, wondering why he spoke without using contractions and why he had just called Sasuke  _ Naruto’s _ . 

 

Suddenly, though, Sasuke’s memory makes a connection it probably should have when he had first heard the name. “Oh! Gaara, you’re Naruto’s… foster brother, right?” Naruto had mentioned Gaara several times, talking about how they had spent some time together in the foster system and had kept in touch all these years. As Sasuke understood it, he was a very important person to Naruto.

 

Gaara smiles at Sasuke in quiet affirmation. 

 

The one with the bowl cut makes his introduction as well, enthusiastically grabbing Sasuke’s hand to shake it, the latter failing to keep the slightly pained expression off of his face. Some of Naruto’s friends were really too much for Sasuke. As the rest of the group greet Ino, they fall into friendly conversation, to Sasuke’s utter dismay.

 

Neji takes the opportunity to start talking to Sasuke about something from a class they had taken together the last semester. Sasuke wants to roll his eyes, and he can feel Ino silently laughing at Sasuke’s subtle annoyance beside him. Just as Neji starts trying to incite Sasuke into some meaningless debate as he always seemed to do, Naruto appears again.

 

“GAARA!!” Naruto shouts, launching himself at the man in question, who recieves him in his arms, laughing. 

 

“Naruto, it is so nice to see you. It has been a while since we have been able to meet up, has it not?”

 

“Your fault for deciding to go to a different college, I told you, you should’ve come to mine.” Naruto pouts back at Gaara. He casts a quick glance at the rest of the group, eyes flicking past Ino and Lee to Sasuke and then to Neji and then resting on Sasuke again for a second longer. He greets the rest of the group quickly and pulls Gaara away, likely to catch up since the last time they had seen each other.

 

The conversation continued around Sasuke, but his eyes stayed glued on Naruto’s retreating figure. He swallowed down the bitter taste in his throat. The look in Naruto’s eyes had been odd again, and he couldn’t figure out what exactly it was that was bothering Naruto. ‘ _ Maybe he’s just a bit drunk,’ _ Sasuke rationalizes to himself. But he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know why Naruto has been looking at him like that all evening, as if there was something eating him up inside. 

 

But, as it turned out, Sasuke didn’t have much time to think about all that. Ino drags him back into the conversation, and soon, minutes turn to hours and he’s talked to at least half the people at the party. It’s mostly just generic conversation, typical inquiries about school, but he ends up getting caught up in something or another with each new person he meets. Naruto’s friends are all incredibly unique and generally interesting people, and despite himself, Sasuke finds himself enjoying the party. More than once, Sakura shoves a drink into his hand that he takes a couple sips of, before putting it down and losing it. Music blasts out of the somewhat shitty speakers Ino had set up, sometimes playing rock music, sometimes playing rap, depending on who managed to grab the aux cord. Sasuke keeps an eye out for Naruto, trying to catch up to him and stick to his side, but everyone at the party seemed determined to keep them from each other. If people seemed to be caught up in conversation with Sasuke, it was nothing compared to Naruto. He was a one man show, keeping the party around him going at all times. Naruto’s laughter could be heard above the noise of everything else, ringing out like a silver bell in the middle of the chaos. 

 

Naruto caught his eye once in a while, throwing a wild grin at him as he continued a conversation with someone else. Sasuke felt some comfort in that, holding onto each smile he received from Naruto as he shouldered through his own attempts to be social, desperately trying to keep himself from just openly staring at Naruto on the other side of the room whenever there was a lull in conversation.

 

He had made progress on one front, though. From his observations, Sasuke could conclude that Naruto was  _ not _ as physical or lacking personal boundaries with anyone else, except maybe Sakura. But even then, it didn’t seem the same as how he was with Sasuke at home. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke watched as Naruto laughed loudly at some joke, clapping Sai on the shoulder but still standing a fairly normal distance away from him. Sasuke didn’t even feel his regular twinge of jealousy he usually felt when Naruto mentioned or talked to Sai, overwhelmed by the sheer bewilderment he felt seeing Naruto respecting other people’s personal space. If it had been Sasuke beside him, Sasuke was pretty much confident Naruto would’ve been hanging onto him or leaning against him or something. He didn’t know what to make of it. Maybe he was just projecting again, imagining the difference between how Naruto interacted with Sasuke and with his other friends, the desperate craving he had for Naruto’s closeness, after hours of being forced into his peripheral, eating at his sensibilities. He longed to be standing next to Naruto, listening to him talk, instead of having to talk to other people who were not Naruto. 

 

Sasuke flops onto the couch, absolutely tired out from almost three hours of straight socialization. Content to just relax for a few minutes in solitude, Sasuke leans back and casts a cursory glance around the room. The party had mostly died down, people sitting around in small groups while nursing their drinks. The others, including Naruto, had retreated to the other room, yells and laughter reverberating through the thin walls. It was getting late; just as Sasuke was wondering when Naruto would want to leave, the blond stumbled into the room and teetered over to Sasuke, collapsing onto the seat beside him.

 

“Sasukeeeeeeee..” Naruto drawls out, burying his face into Sasuke’s shoulder. Just with that little contact, Sasuke feels his heart lighten a hundred pounds.

 

“Oh, you’re real drunk aren’t you, dumbass.”

 

“Don...t…… Don’t swear, Sas’ke………….” Naruto mumbles, digging his face deeper into Sasuke’s body, head buried into the crook of his neck. Sasuke feels the tips of his ears heating up again, threatening to betray him.

 

Sasuke looks around and spots Sakura and Ino over by the table. “Hey, guys,” Sasuke calls out to them, “I’m going to take Naruto home, he’s drunk off his ass and it’s getting pretty late.”

 

Sakura and Ino laugh and wave their farewells. “Sure, sure, take care of him, Sasuke!” Sakura winks at him from across to room.

 

Sasuke ignores the comment, answering instead with “Thanks for having us, I had fun. I’ll see you guys around.” He stands up, dragging a groaning Naruto up along with him. He winds his arm around Naruto’s waist and all but pulls him as they stumble out the porch door, and into the night air.

 

Naruto’s still leaning heavily on Sasuke, and he can smell the scent of cheap beer mingling with Naruto’s scent. The chill of the night time sends a shiver through Naruto, and he huddles even closer to Sasuke. 

 

“You should’ve brought a coat, idiot,” Sasuke all but whispers, as he tightens his grip around Naruto’s shoulders as they walk, almost scared to ruin the sanctity of the silent streetlight lit sidewalks. 

 

“It’s okay,” Naruto mumbles, “I have you.”

 

Sasuke’s mind feels all muddled, like he had been the one drinking all night, not Naruto. Beside him, Naruto straightens up a bit, walking a bit more steadily than before. The fresh crisp air seemed to have a sobering effect on him, and Sasuke saw Naruto’s eyes look into Sasuke’s more clearly than he had earlier. But there was still something behind them, an emotion Sasuke still hadn’t been able to decipher. 

 

“You’re always staring at me, y’know?” Naruto says softly, words still a tiny bit slurred. Sasuke, true to Naruto’s words, stares at him like a deer caught in headlights. “It’s okay though,” Naruto continues, still looking into Sasuke’s eyes, “I stare at you sometimes, too.”

 

Naruto turns back forwards, seemingly focussed on not stumbling, as they continue their trek homewards. Sasuke stays silent, mind spinning. 

 

A few quiet minutes later, they turn onto the back alley leading to their building. Sasuke, unable to stop himself, takes in Naruto’s side profile, drinking in his features bathed in moonlight. Naruto, notices, and turns and looks back at Sasuke, wordlessly. A few seconds pass as they just take each other in, and it feels like an eternity. And then suddenly Naruto’s eyebrows furrow in frustration and Sasuke feels like he’s been punched in the gut. 

 

“I can’t stand you, Sasuke.”

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe


	15. Chapter 15

Naruto angrily stumbles forwards, walking away from Sasuke as fast as he can in his partially drunken state. Sasuke just stands there for a moment in utter confusion, watching Naruto attempt to dig out the key to the door with mounting frustration.

 

As if his own annoyance with Naruto’s sudden mood swing had cleared his head, Sasuke pushed past Naruto and opened the door wordlessly. He grabs Naruto by the elbow and leads him to the elevator, refusing to make eye contact or say anything. They get into the elevator, standing there in silence, the heavy mood settling around them. ‘ _I can’t stand you, Sasuke’._ The words kept echoing again and again in Sasuke’s head.

 

Sasuke unlocks the door to their apartment, and the pair walk in, still not speaking or looking at each other. Naruto sloppily kicks off his shoes and weaves his way over to the couch, where he collapses. Sasuke is still standing by the door, shoes off and neatly stored on the rack. His head and heart were pounding.

 

“What the fuck do you mean? You can’t stand me?” Sasuke hears himself say. It’s as if he’s detached from himself, watching from a third person point of view as he grapples between confronting Naruto about his behaviour or just running from the whole situation. Hadn’t he been of the mindset that he would rather cut off Naruto completely than face rejection? Sasuke had no idea where this was going, but he was terrified. As the words came out of his mouth, he was terrified he was moments away from losing his best friend.

 

Naruto goes still. He doesn’t answer right away. Still facing the wall, he answers. “I meant, I can’t stand you. I can’t stand this anymore.”

 

Sasuke’s annoyance gives way to frustration. “Can’t stand what, exactly? What the fuck are you talking about, Naruto? Just tell me what the fucking issue is. Or are you just a melodramatic drunk?” At the back of his mind, Sasuke knew he was being too rude, too angry, for the situation. But he was tired, strung out, and deathly afraid that Naruto was about to tell him how much he hated him.

 

Naruto gets on his feet, and turns to face Sasuke, a dark expression on his face. “I’m not fucking drunk anymore, Sasuke. I— I can’t do this.”

 

“Can’t do WHAT?!” Sasuke explodes.

 

“I CAN’T FUCKING STAND YOU ANYMORE.”

 

Sasuke is shocked into silence for a second.

 

And then the world explodes around the two of them.

 

Naruto and Sasuke start arguing, yelling at each other, shouting obscenities. They’re arguing about nothing; stupid gripes about how messy Naruto was— “LOOK, you left your shoes all over the fucking place, JUST NOW”— and how Sasuke was bad at grocery shopping— “You bought FOUR fucking boxes of cereal and NO fucking BREAD”. It was chaos. A small part of Sasuke’s rational brain worries about the neighbours filing a noise complaint, but it isn’t enough to tamp down the surge of annoyance and need to rebut every time Naruto brings up something menial or petty. Another part of his mind marvels at how quickly the argument had escalated in intensity; Naruto and Sasuke argued and bickered almost constantly, but this was probably their first real fight. And over what? Sasuke still didn’t know.

 

“God, fuck,” Naruto interrupts himself mid rant, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Even in the midst of an argument like this, Sasuke can’t help but feel a pang of longing in his gut. Naruto turns and looks at Sasuke,who had moved to stand opposite him in the living room, square in the eye. “Are you fucking Hinata’s cousin?”

 

Sasuke is caught completely off guard for the nth time that night. “Who the fuck is that?”

 

Naruto glowers, expression darkening even more. “Hinata’s cousin, fuck, Sasuke, is it him? Is it him?”

 

“Naruto, literally who the FUCK is HINATA. WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.”

 

“NEJI. JESUS, ARE YOU DATING NEJI? DO YOU LIKE NEJI?” Naruto is yelling, but his voice sounds almost petulant, the vulnerability creeping through the cracks, an almost childlike desperation in his words.

 

Sasuke can’t help but laugh in bewilderment. “WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE FUCKING NEJI?? I HATE THAT BASTARD,” Sasuke shouts back. Naruto seems to be at a loss for words, mouth opening and closing as if he was trying to string together the right phrase to retort with. Sasuke seizes the moment to recollect his composure.

 

“Naruto,” he starts, attempting as much as possible to keep his voice even and reasonable. “I don’t like Neji. Or Sai. And I’m not fucking ANYONE, currently. And even if I were, why the fuck is that YOUR problem. What is your goddamn deal, why are you blowing up at me like this for no fucking reason.”

 

Naruto’s eyes seem to burn, the corner of his jaw moving imperceptibly, as if he was physically chewing on the words he wanted to say.

 

Sasuke almost doesn’t hear the words Naruto whispers out next.

 

_“Why did you say you wouldn’t want to sleep with me?”_

 

Sasuke is dumbstruck and Naruto looks like he wants to die. Naruto turns redder by the second, panic slowly creeping onto his face as he realizes he had just said that aloud and Sasuke had heard him.

 

Just as Naruto looks like he’s about to turn around and just flee from the scene, Sasuke starts speaking, making Naruto freeze where he’s standing.

 

“When…” Sasuke starts. “When did I even say that?”

 

Confusion flashes across Naruto’s face, quickly replaced by indignance. “That day,” Naruto responds, voice almost devoid of emotion, “we saw Sai and you got mad that he would even _insinuate_ that you could ever possibly see me as more than a friend.”

 

Blood rushes into Sasuke’s face and thunders in his ears as he grapples with what Naruto just said to him. He wants to laugh from the incredulousness, the _irony_ , of it all, but he holds himself back for once. Instead he just stares at Naruto, who is standing across from him wearing an expression of anger and hurt.

 

“You’ve been sitting on that all this time?” Sasuke breathes out softly. He examines Naruto’s face as a flicker of confusion and doubt flickers across it again. Naruto had always been so expressive, Sasuke hadn’t realized that sometimes he hid his feelings, too. He gazed at Naruto, any residual annoyance melting away, only to be replaced by the overwhelming love he felt for the man he called his best friend. It wasn’t like him; usually, Sasuke would be the type to hold onto his annoyance, to make a bigger gripe over someone else’s petty grudge, but today, he couldn’t. He was tired—he was tired physically, but, moreso, he was tired of keeping his feelings a secret, tired of being in love and being misunderstood. He looked at Naruto, and more than anything, what he truly wanted to do was just bare his soul to him.

 

“Naruto,” Sasuke continues. “That meant… nothing. That was an offhand comment I made out of embarrassment and, like, momentary panic. At best, it was a bad joke. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I didn’t mean anything bad against you. I… Don’t… I don’t know how to say this. What I said isn’t… an actual reflection of what I think of you.”

 

Doubt crosses Naruto’s sullen and embarrassed expression again. With a sinking heart, Sasuke can tell Naruto still doesn’t believe him completely.

 

“Okay,” Naruto breathes out, still carefully trying to keep his voice steady. “So you didn’t mean anything bad by it? But that doesn’t mean shit, does it.” Sasuke is confused again, but his annoyance stays at bay, as he patiently waits for Naruto to continue. “We’re friends, right, Sasuke? What does that even mean. What does our bond mean to you? You’re my best friend, so what does that _mean._ ”

 

Bond. _‘That’s a heavy word to use for friendship’_ , Sasuke thought. The expression on Naruto’s face felt like a dagger through his heart. Naruto looked sad and desperate, as if he was begging Sasuke to tell him how to decipher his own feelings. He looked how Sasuke felt, how Sasuke had felt for months and months, suffering to interpret his own emotions and separate romantic from platonic love. It feels like they’re running in circles; Sasuke doesn’t know, really, what Naruto is thinking. Does he feel more than just friendship towards Sasuke? Is he asking to know if Sasuke feels the same? Or is he just confused by his own feelings, asking Sasuke to put a label on them for him? Doubt grapples at the edges of his whirling thoughts, and he remembers what Naruto had said earlier to him that night. ‘ _You’re always staring at me, y’know?’_ So he had noticed; he had noticed Sasuke was in love with him. So maybe Naruto wanted Sasuke to consider their friendship, to reevaluate his feelings; a convoluted way to tell Sasuke _‘Hey. I know you’re in love with me, but we’re just friends, remember?’_

 

But then he looks into Naruto’s eyes again. They stand there in silence, so close Sasuke could reach out and cup Naruto’s face in his hand if he wanted. And Sasuke remembers what else Naruto had said to him. _‘It’s okay, though. I stare at you sometimes, too.’_

 

He thinks about how Naruto has been acting all evening, all day, all week, for months and months. Thinks about the little moments and the big moments. He thinks about all the reasons he loves Naruto.

 

_‘It’s okay, though. I stare at you sometimes, too.’_

 

It’s okay.

 

Sasuke finally breaks the silence. “Naruto,” he starts. Naruto looks up once more, desperation and quiet determination fighting behind his eyes. Sasuke swallows, and musters all the courage he can. “Not to sound like a sixth grader, but, I like you.”

 

This time, it’s Naruto’s turn to stand there, dumbstruck.

 

“Naruto, I really, really like you. Naruto, I’m in love with you.”

 

It feels like a million pounds have been lifted off Sasuke’s heart with that simple but earnest confession. The fear of rejection still looms in his peripheral, but just as it threatens to grip him again, Sasuke’s entire life flips around.

 

In one small stride, Naruto closes the distance between the two and grips Sasuke’s face between his hands and guides him into a kiss. Naruto’s mouth is soft and the kiss is sweet and lingering. Sasuke feels like he’s free falling off the edge of a waterfall, emotions crashing around him. He reaches up to caress Naruto’s face with one hand, pulling him in by the neck with the other. Sasuke deepens the kiss, and he feels like he’s drowning, like he’s being pulled into a whirlpool and the only lifeline he has is Naruto’s lips on his. He was drowning in Naruto, in his taste, in his scent, in his embrace. He felt himself sinking further into Naruto and he felt Naruto fall further into him. He couldn’t stop kissing him, resentful to have to stop to breathe, his desperation for the other reflected in the way Naruto kissed him back.

 

Slowly, Naruto lets his lips linger again, pulling back just barely, enough to look into Sasuke’s eyes. Sasuke blinks slowly, carefully; there are tears pooling in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall from sheer happiness. His stomach is doing backflips and his heart feels as though it was about to burst out of his ribcage. Sasuke felt like he was on fire, and he looked back into Naruto’s eyes and he could finally decipher the emotion behind them, the look that had eluded him all night. He looked into Naruto’s eyes and saw love. He saw the same happiness and he saw the same endearment he felt when he looked at Naruto. Sasuke gazed deep into Naruto’s eyes and he saw himself.

 

“So,” Naruto breathes out, “So… Sasuke… We’re friends, right? I mean—” Naruto lets out a nervous laugh, and Sasuke just smiles and captures his mouth in his own one more time.

 

Sasuke pulls back, still smiling. “Naruto, what does friend mean to you?”

 

Naruto grins, and Sasuke is blown away, blinded as though the Sun itself was radiating from Naruto. Naruto’s hands fall from Sasuke’s face and slip around his waist, drawing Sasuke into a tight embrace. Sasuke hugs him back, keenly aware of Naruto’s mouth pressed against the side of his neck, the blond clinging to him like he was scared Sasuke would run away. And maybe, at one time, he would. His past self, even himself from just an hour ago, would have run rather than face the unknown territories of actually confessing his love. But that was Sasuke before he knew that things with Naruto could actually be more than what he already had. Now, Sasuke had taken the dive and all he could do was kick himself for not confessing sooner. Now, Sasuke knew in his soul, not even a small army could get him to leave Naruto’s side.

 

“I love you, too, Sasuke,” Naruto whispers into his shoulder. Sasuke grips Naruto tighter in response.

 

It was okay.

 

Naruto loved him, too.

 

Everything was okay. Everything was much, much better than okay.

 

They giggled like schoolchildren, clinging to each other until they both couldn’t stand it anymore, pulling apart just to meet each other in the middle in a kiss yet again. After a while, Sasuke’s legs start to hurt, and he guides Naruto to the couch, mouth still not leaving his. Naruto sits down on top of Sasuke, arms wrapped around his neck, and it’s oddly reminiscent of that time just a week ago when Sasuke’s creeping hopes had started to take hold. They kiss again, slow and deep, as if they have all the time in the world. Naruto smiles into the kiss, and Sasuke can’t help but part again, just to say “I love you” one more time.

 

 

They end up tiring themselves out, the hours they spent at the party compounding with the emotional rollercoaster the night had been. They fall asleep on the couch, the both of them on their sides, crammed onto the narrow cushions of the couch. Sasuke, still in his jeans, but with Naruto in his arms and a blanket pulled haphazardly over them, falls into the most peaceful, sweetest sleep he had ever had, and dreams about blinding smiles and soft lips. The last thought that dances through his mind before he slips into unconsciousness is just how lucky he is to have fallen in love with his best friend, and how lucky he is to be loved back.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3
> 
> most likely wont update for a while, maybe a couple weeks, cause im heading into finals but.... i hope you guys liked this one :') pls let me know what u think, and maybe let me know what you want to see next....


	16. Chapter 16

A loud crash sounds from the kitchen that makes Sasuke whip his head back to look so fast he almost breaks his neck. Before he can even ask what happened, Naruto hollers from the kitchen, yelling about how “everything’s FINE” and “DON’T come in”. 

 

Sasuke rolls his eyes, and turns back to tidying up the living room. It had been a month since Naruto and Sasuke had started dating, and they had decided it was time to make things officially “official” with their friends, and thus had decided to, in the words of Iruka, ‘be proper adults’, and host a dinner party of sorts. Although, the formalities lost a lot of their meaning when one was reminded of the aftermath of that night of the party.

 

Sasuke had woken up before Naruto, and had been content lying there with the softly snoring blond cradled in his arms. Sasuke’s heart had been full to the brim, his grip unconsciously tightening when he had remembered the exchange of hearts that had happened the previous night. Naruto stirred in his sleep, eyes groggily blinking open, as he turned his head upward from his position on Sasuke’s chest to look at him. As if remembering everything all at once, Naruto’s eyes had lit up, a blush spreading across his cheeks, and a million watt smile breaking across his face. He had dragged himself up, and leaned into Sasuke, kissing him with all the might he could muster, pulling away to regard him with the sweetest, most tender expression Sasuke had seen in his life. It was a sight he would never forget.

 

Promptly after, Naruto had excused himself and gone into his room. Sasuke was ambling about the apartment, tidying up after brushing his teeth and freshening up, with the intent to make breakfast for the two of them, when he froze outside of Naruto’s room. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the walls were rather thin and Sasuke heard Naruto sniffle from inside his room as if he were crying. Brow marred with concern and panic suddenly gripping his heart, Sasuke was about to knock on the door and ask what was wrong when he heard Naruto talking.

 

“Sakura?” Naruto sniffled, voice muffled through the door as Sasuke listened, unable to tear himself away. 

 

“He… He finally fucking kissed me, Sakura. Oh my fucking god, you were right, he really does like me, I’m so happy,” Naruto mumbled out before he started sniffling again, without a doubt crying into the phone receiver. Sasuke had felt his heart squeeze so hard he thought it would burst. With a smile, he quietly crept away from the door, giving Naruto his privacy. He couldn’t make fun of him for crying, of course; Sasuke, himself, had felt the tears welling in his eyes out of sheer happiness, as he hastily wiped them away with the back of his hand.

 

Sasuke, indeed, had not made fun of him for crying, but the same could not be said for Naruto’s cohort of friends. Within the hour of Naruto ending his call with Sakura, and joining Sasuke for breakfast, his phone had lit up at least a dozen times with teasing and congratulatory texts, before Naruto threw it halfway across the room and onto the couch, where it undoubtedly continued to receive countless messages. Sasuke had just laughed, and stolen a chaste kiss while Naruto grumbled embarrassedly about how he was going to kill Sakura. 

 

In the end, all of Naruto’s friends had found out they had gotten together before the end of the day. Sasuke learned later, to Naruto’s great chagrin, that they had teased him relentlessly, not only for getting all weepy, but because he hadn’t been the one to confess first. Apparently, Naruto had been loudly proclaiming to Sakura and company, that he was going to be the one to sweep Sasuke off his feet, and the fact that it had been Sasuke who had actually taken the jump and proclaimed his “undying love” first, as Naruto had put it, had amused his friends to no end. Sasuke had smugly smiled at all of this, teasing Naruto even more as they sat curled up together on the couch as they watched a movie, but in the back of his head he smiled softly at the apt choice of words. He really did feel like it was undying love. 

 

So, really, this dinner party was nothing more than a formality. Sasuke and Naruto had gone over to Iruka’s the week before to have dinner, and, in Sasuke’s case, to be officially introduced as the boyfriend. Despite having met Iruka before, Sasuke had been all nerves, but the night had gone smoothly. Sasuke had a great deal of respect for Iruka, and the latter had warmed up to him in no time, both enthusiastic and emotional. Later in the evening, when Naruto had gone upstairs to get something from his old room to show Sasuke, Iruka had confided in Sasuke just how happy he was to see the two together. He could tell, just by seeing the two together and seeing how they looked at each other, with happiness radiating from each others smiles, just how in love they were. Iruka had told Sasuke how happy he was that they had found that love in each other. And then, of course, Iruka had somberly warned Sasuke that if he messed with Naruto’s heart, he would not live to tell the tale, to which Sasuke had spluttered and nervously assured Iruka that he would never even think of hurting him. Iruka had just laughed, and then suggested that hosting their friends at their house would be a good way to properly establish their relationship outside of their near daily ramen dates, and Sasuke, eager to please, had agreed, which was how he found himself cleaning the apartment while Naruto, who had insisted on making part of the dinner, made a disaster out of the kitchen.

 

Naruto trudged out into the living room, looking forlorn, as Sasuke gave the beat up coffee table a last wipe of the dust cloth. Sasuke looked up at him, a small snicker escaping him; Naruto was dressed up, semi formal, with a large wooden spoon in hand, a bright orange apron tied around him, and his ridiculous fluffy pink slippers on his feet.

 

“Let me guess, you fucked up the pasta?”

 

Naruto groaned, and just turned back around and went back into the kitchen. Sasuke got up and followed him in. 

 

“Here, let me help--” 

 

“NO,” Naruto exclaimed, “it’s okay, I told you, I can do it. You already made the tomato sauce stuff, I can do this.” Sasuke could tell by Naruto’s pout that he most certainly would not be able to do this, but he softly smiled and conceded. Naruto was still furrowing his brow at the large pot in front of him, when Sasuke, unable to resist himself, leaned over and gave him a small peck on the side of his mouth. Like magic, Naruto’s features immediately smoothed over, and he turned to face Sasuke fully, angling himself to meet Sasuke’s mouth in a full, deep kiss. Despite having been the one that had initiated the kiss, as Naruto pulled away, Sasuke was left breathless. His hand came up softly to cup Naruto’s face, the latter’s expression tender and warm, and softly pressed one more small kiss onto Naruto’s lips, before pushing away with a small smile.

 

“I’m… going to go get ready. You keep working on the pasta,” Sasuke said softly, his words barely a breath above a whisper.

 

“Okay,” Naruto said back, just as soft, his cheeks spread out in a wide goofy grin, “See you soon.”

 

Sasuke, still unable to curb his impulse, pressed one more kiss onto Naruto’s cheek before heading back to his room, heart fluttering in his chest. As he pulled a shirt from his closet, he marveled at how every kiss with Naruto still held the same excitement of their first. Naruto and Sasuke were inseparable. Sasuke could tell that, despite having been together for only a month, their relationship had the kind of spark that made it almost timeless. They bickered like an old married couple, but they also thought the Sun shone out of each others asses. He was incredibly, deeply, crazily in love with Naruto, and, it had taken some time, but he finally realized that Naruto was just as crazily in love with him.

 

Sasuke was still only half dressed, deep in thought, when he heard the doorbell ring. Quickly pulling on his sweater, he ran out of his room, yelling at Naruto that he’d get it and to just worry about cooking. Sasuke pulled open the door, face to face with Sai’s unnervingly blank smile. Despite everything that had happened, Sasuke still, to Naruto’s endless amusement, couldn’t quite shake his annoyance for Sai. Sasuke had invited Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu as well-- he had become quite close to them while they had worked, and they had become what was probably his first real college friends, outside of Naruto and the rest-- and had hoped they would arrive first so he could have just shoved the responsibility of being actually engaging onto Suigetsu, who never shut up, but, alas. 

 

“Hello, Sasuke!” Sai said, thrusting a store bought cake into his arms.

 

“Hey, Sasuke,” Sakura echoed from behind Sai, and Ino waved her hello from her side.

 

“Hey guys, come in,” Sasuke ushered them in. Sakura plucked the cake from Sasuke’s hands and went into the kitchen, rather than following the rest into the living room; no doubt, Naruto had texted Sakura an SOS before she had arrived, and now it would be up to her if they actually managed to eat dinner at their dinner party tonight. Sasuke inwardly sighed, and sat down opposite Ino and Sai on the couches.

 

“So, Sasuke,” Ino began, “You know no one actually throws dinner parties cause they’ve been smashing a guy for a month right? Especially not broke college students, right?”

 

Sasuke’s ears coloured a bit. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. It’s fun, and also Iruka suggested it, so here we are,” Sasuke mumbled indignantly. “It's basically just a normal party, anyways, just we’re having burned pasta instead of ordering pizza.” Sasuke paused for a second, a thoughtful look on his face. “Plus, it made Naruto really happy.”

 

Ino smiles warmly at that, an odd juxtaposition to the muffled sounds of Sakura berating Naruto for his horrendous cooking from the other room.

 

“Well, Sasuke. I consider Naruto, basically, to be a brother,” Sai smiles, almost conspiratorial, in Sasuke’s direction. “That would make us brother-in-laws, wouldn’t it? I propose, we should get to know each other better. I’ll go first. What’s your favourite colour?” The mirth in Sai’s eyes glinting, as he took the opportunity to tease Sasuke, fearing no repercussions.

 

“Orange.” Sasuke deadpans, staring Sai dead in the eyes.

 

“No, it’s not. Sasuke, you promised me you would stop lying for no reason like this, asshole. It’s purple,” Naruto calls out as he peeks around the corner into the living room, leaving Sakura to work at salvaging the pasta glued to the sides of the pot in the kitchen. Sasuke continues to stare at Sai blankly, wholly unaffected. 

 

“He picked up the habit from his brother,” Naruto quips sagely, “He’s a gemini.” Sasuke looks over at Naruto, raising an eyebrow at him, and Naruto quickly follows up with, “No hate against geminis, my dad’s a gemini, too. But they are like that, Sasuke, you can’t argue that.”

 

Sasuke just shrugged noncommittally, but he really couldn’t disagree. His brother, Itachi, was quite the character. Sasuke had already told Itachi a bit about Naruto when he had moved in with him, but after they had started dating, he had figured it would probably be polite to introduce the two. Long story short, the pair had ended up in the apartment of Itachi Uchiha, renown public defense lawyer, on a Sunday, helping him make peach apricot jam, because, obviously, that was how normal people bonded with their brother’s boyfriend upon first introduction. Itachi had also thought it would be funny to “trick” Naruto by asking him to fetch a towel from the closet. After nearly fifteen minutes of looking, Naruto had finally caved and whispered nervously to Sasuke that he couldn’t find them. Sasuke had just rolled his eyes, and asked Itachi where he hid the towels, to which he gleefully responded under the bed. The towels had turned out to actually be stuffed in a bag in the back of the laundry room; needless to say, Naruto’s impression of Itachi was a rather odd one. And yet, Naruto had told Sasuke later that he had really enjoyed himself and had taken to keeping in touch with Itachi, making sure to ask about how his jams were doing, which made Sasuke oddly pleased. It warmed his heart to see the dearest parts of his life fitting well together.

 

Just then, the doorbell rang again, and Sasuke got up to get it. He opened the door, and before he cold even greet the bunch, Suigetsu pushed past him and bellows “NARUTOOO!!” while forcing the blond into a headlock. Naruto had met Sasuke’s friends a handful of times, and, suffice to say, Suigetsu had taken a liking to Naruto. After all, they were a similar brand of dumbass, Sasuke mused.

 

As the group settled down, Sakura came out of the kitchen wiping her hands. “No need to despair, by the way,” she announced, “I’ve saved dinner!”

 

“Sakuraaaaa,” Naruto whined, “I told you not to tell everyone. You were supposed to let me pretend I did it myself.”

 

“You were literally out here talking, who would even believe you. Also, it’s not even hard to make pasta, you literally boil and salt the water and put it in, I don’t even know how you fucked it up so bad.”

 

Naruto groans while the rest of the group laughs at his despair. Sasuke fights down the laugh that threatens to burst out of him, opting to at least try and look sympathetic, patting his boyfriend on the shoulder. Naruto narrows his eyes at him, not buying the act, before his pout shifts into an almost wicked grin. 

 

“Hey, Sakura, no swearing allowed in this household. We have some new rules around here, since  _ someone _ can’t seem to control their potty mouth,” Naruto singsongs. 

 

Sasuke’s eyes widen in fear. “Stop. You said you would stop teasing me about this, Naruto. I swear to god--”

 

“WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT HOW SASUKE GOT FIRED FROM WALMART YESTERDAY?!” Naruto yells. Sasuke groans as the rest of the room explodes into chatter and laughter.

 

“Sasuke, you got fired??”

 

“ASSHOLEEEE, WHAT DID YOU DO, AHAHAHA”

 

“You’re gonna have to grovel to Kakashi for, like, at least an hour to give you more hours now, I can’t believe this”

 

“Okay, okay, gather round” Naruto herds the group into the living room where they all settle down, looking to Naruto, eager to hear what was definitely an embarrassing story from the elated look on Naruto’s face and the despondent look on Sasuke’s.

 

What had happened, the day before, was this:

 

It was a normal, regular, Saturday. As per usual, Sasuke and Naruto had a shift at Walmart. Nothing outside of the usual, they yelled at each other to hurry up in the morning, put on the ugly blue apron uniforms, and headed out to the car. Naruto had given Sasuke a peck on the cheek once they had parked, and they had rushed into the store to clock in. 

 

It was a regular, normal day, and as such, Sasuke had to deal with the most annoying human beings on Earth, all packed into his register line. He handled the coupon maniacs with at least a hundred items and the smelly dudes buying ten cases of beer at ten in the morning with practiced ease, a monotonous “Have a good day” punctuating his actions. Everything was going as usual, when his least favourite genre of customer pulled up to his till with a cart full of groceries. The White Mom. The may-speak-to-your-manager type, likely an antivaxxer, someone who was probably convinced that fad diets actually work. The woman pulled up her cart in front of Sasuke, in all her annoying glory, and immediately began nasally complaining about how Walmart “just didn’t have enough organic options.”

 

Sasuke, the brave and hardened cashier that he was, had managed to shoulder through the ordeal, ringing up the woman and moving onto the next customer, when he heard a somewhat dramatic gasp from the woman. It seemed that, in the process of bagging her items, she had made an upsetting discovery.

 

“THESE EGGS AREN’T ORGANIC!” The woman screeched.

 

Sasuke blinked in utter confusion. “Ma’am?” He prodded questioningly, worried this was about to become a bigger scene than it already was. Sasuke’s register was right in front of customer service today, and over the woman’s shoulder he could vaguely see Naruto looking in their direction, a shit eating grin plastered across his face.

 

The woman continued to screech, flailing her arms at Sasuke, wildly gesticulating. “THESE EGGS ARE NOT ORGANIC, THEY ARE NOT FARM FRESH. THIS LABEL DOES NOT SAY ORGANIC, WHY WERE THEY WITH THE OTHER ORGANIC EGGS?!”

 

Sasuke was equal parts taken aback and apathetic. “Ma’am, if you have an issue with what you bought, you can head over to customer service and they can process your return there.” As the woman huffed and turned to bring her items over to customer service, Sasuke felt a twinge of guilt for deflecting the crazy lady onto Naruto, even though that  _ was _ his job.

 

As he helped the next customer, the sounds of the woman’s screeching reached his ears, and he looked over to see the woman now dramatically gesturing at Naruto, who was obviously trying his best to placate her. Sasuke felt a rising twinge of annoyance and, curious as to what was happening, after finishing up the customer’s purchase, he inched towards the customer service desk, trying to see what was going on.

 

The woman was yelling about how, because apparently the eggs had been in the wrong part of the fridges, she deserved to get the organic eggs she wanted for free. Naruto, to his credit, had on his best friendly face, and was calmly trying to explain how he couldn’t do that, but would be glad to go down and get the organic eggs she wanted for her instead.

 

_ ‘What even are organic eggs,’ _ Sasuke mused to himself.

 

Egg lady, however, was not pleased. “NO. I WANT FARM FRESH, ORGANIC EGGS. AND I WANT MY PURCHASE TO BE FREE. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS BEFORE YOU GET IT RIGHT, YOU STUPID LITTLE BOY,” she yelled into Naruto’s face.

 

At this point, Sasuke was seeing red, and was about to cut in and intervene when the most bizzare thing happened. The woman picked up the carton of eggs, and thrust them over the counter and into Naruto’s chest. The lid must have come loose and the carton tipped in her hands, and, in the blink of an eye, Naruto had cracked, raw eggs dribbling down the front of him, a dumbfounded look on his face.

 

Sasuke, not even aware of what he was doing, rushed forwards and grabbed the offending woman’s arm and yelled right back into her face. “Oh, you want farm fresh? You want FUCKING farm fresh? HOW ABOUT SOME 100% ORGANIC, GRAIN FED, FARM FRESH HANDS, MOTHER FUCKER?!”

 

And grabbing one of the remaining intact eggs off the counter, Sasuke took it and smashed it straight onto the woman’s head, as she stood there spluttering.

 

Shortly after, the manager had come out and placated the woman as best as he could. The woman had stormed out, yelling about how she would never come back there again, and Sasuke had been fired on the spot. He hadn’t cared in the slightest; “justice was justice”, he had scoffed with an air of contempt. Naruto had found the entire experience an outrageous spectacle, deeming it to be in his “top three most hilarious moments of his life”, and had teased Sasuke the entire rest of the day about it. He had been touched that Sasuke had more or less come to his rescue, and a bit sad that they wouldn’t be able to work together anymore, vowing to quit as well in solidarity, but the image of Sasuke breaking an egg over a middle aged woman’s egg was apparently so hilarious that Naruto had giggled himself to sleep that night as they lay together in Sasuke’s bed. 

  
  


As Naruto relayed all of this to the group, everyone dissolved into laughter.

 

“Whatever,” Sasuke mumbled, “I don’t regret it.” The rest of the group continued to laugh, Suigetsu and Karin taking it upon themselves to reenact the whole ordeal. Sasuke just sighed, a small smile pulling at his lips, because, well, the whole incident really had been funny. 

 

Naruto turns to look at him, his lips still pulled into a grin. He looks at Sasuke for a moment, before pausing for a breath, and dives in and kisses him squarely and surely, as the rest of the audience bursts into teasing jeers and applause. 

 

Sasuke smiled into the kiss, before deepening it, to the mild, but loud, disgust of their friends. 

 

He really, truly, was in love with Naruto. 

 

And he was so happy and lucky that Naruto loved him back.

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!!! finally, the long overdue final chapter.... i hope you all liked this fic wow...   
> funny thing is, i actually started this wholeee thing with the singular sasuke-yelling-at-egg-lady scene drafted, and built all of the rest of the fic with the intention of sneaking that scene in somewhere, so i hope you guys liked it and didnt think it was more corny than funny LOL  
> im so happy that everyone has been so nice about the fic so far, and i hope this last chapter was a satisfying note to end on. thank u so much for reading!!! 
> 
> (ps: not to self plug or anything, but if u wanna talk or smthn, hmu on tumblr@zetsu or twitter@nawrutouzumaki !!)


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